Can we afford not to move to FttH.
I was prompted to ask this question once again when I read that China has more fibre installed than any other country – and that they will, within a few years, have extended the network to the point where there are more FttH-connected homes in China than anywhere else in the world.
Why would a country like China do that? Just because they have nothing better to do? If you listen to some of the arguments made by the people in the western world who are putting off implementing these developments you might believe that that is the case.
China and many other countries in Asia understand that an FttH network in the 21st century is as important as the road system was in the 20th.
And while the Chinese are still building roads they also understand that in the future it will be impossible to continue to move large numbers of people around in cars. A dozen satellite cities around Shanghai are in the planning stage (and will be home to tens of millions of people). When finished, these cities will be largely car-free and everyone will have FttH.
The economic crisis will accelerate the economic power shift that is already taking place – from West to East. This is seen by the USA as one of the most important consequences of the current situation. The financial crisis could shorten that West-East transition from 25 to 20 years.
Shouldn’t we in the West stop bickering about shareholders values, monopolistic profits and lack of business plans? FttH is essential national infrastructure. Asian countries realised that a long time ago, hence the leadership of the governments in countries such as Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Slowly some countries outside Asia are beginning to come to that understanding as well; recently countries such as Slovakia, Greece, Andorra, Malta, Switzerland and Mauritius have joined the list of countries with a national FttH plan. And in most cases it has been the governments of these countries that have been instrumental in making it happen.
In places like the USA, Canada and the Netherlands the municipal governments have been the leaders. Sweden is also at the forefront, with long-term federal and municipal leadership in the rollout of their fibre networks, all the way to the North Pole.
We can’t afford to lag behind and let our economies become less efficient and our communities less prosperous than those in the Asia. And we should also be reaping the social benefits that FttH is already providing to our Asian neighbours?
The procrastinators are saying that there is not enough money in Internet access and entertainment revenues to justify the rollout of FttH, but FttH doesn’t simply have to be based on entertainment income alone.
Where would we have been if our forefathers had procrastinated around the development of electricity, gas, water, sewerage, and telephony?
Most of the significant advances in our societies and our economies have not been based on an initial business plan that delivered gold in the next quarter. We need to think long-term – be bold, more strategic, and visionary. This generation should leave behind more than just a mountain of debt for those who follow after us.
Tagged in: Australia, Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific
