FTTH

FTTH, or fiber to the home, is a broadband access network architecture in which optical fiber runs from a service provider’s central office or junction to the subscriber’s residence or business, delivering high-bandwidth digital services over the last mile. Compared with copper-based technologies, FTTH offers higher capacity, lower latency, and greater scalability, enabling services such as high-definition video, cloud applications, and connected devices.

The most common FTTH topology is a passive optical network (PON). In a PON, a single optical fiber from the central office is optically split to serve multiple premises, with an optical line terminal (OLT) at the provider end and an optical network terminal (ONT) or optical network unit (ONU) at the customer premises. The splitters are passive devices and do not require electrical power along the feeder path. In some deployments, dedicated fiber and active Ethernet are used, providing a point-to-point connection to each subscriber.

Standards and speeds: ITU-T standards define several generations of FTTH technologies. GPON (G.984/G.988) commonly provides about 2.488 Gbit/s downstream and 1.244 Gbit/s upstream. XG-PON (10G-PON) offers 10 Gbit/s downstream and 2.5 Gbit/s upstream. NG-PON2 can aggregate multiple wavelengths to reach up to tens of gigabits per second on a single fiber.

Deployment considerations: FTTH requires civil works, permits, and fiber installation to individual buildings or homes, which can entail higher upfront costs but yields scalable, long-term capacity and resilience. It is often described in the context of broader FTTP or FTTx families as a fiber-based access solution.