Definition of terms

The telecommunications industry differentiates between several distinct configurations. The terms in most widespread use today are:

FTTN - Fiber-to-the-node - fiber is terminated in a street cabinet up to several kilometers away from the customer premises, with the final connection being copper.
FTTC - Fiber-to-the-cabinet or fiber-to-the-curb - this is very similar to FTTN, but the street cabinet is closer to the user's premises; typically within 300m.
FTTB - Fiber-to-the-building or Fiber-to-the-basement - fiber reaches the boundary of the building, such as the basement in an multidwelling unit, with the final connection to the individual living space being made via alternative means.
FTTH - Fiber-to-the-home - fiber reaches the boundary of the living space, such as a box on the outside wall of a home.
FTTP - Fiber-to-the premises - this term is used in several contexts: as a blanket term for both FTTH and FTTB, or where the fiber network includes both homes and small businesses.

To promote consistency, especially when comparing FTTH penetration rates between countries, the three FTTH Councils of Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific have agreed upon definitions for FTTH and FTTB [1]. The FTTH Councils do not have formal definitions for FTTC and FTTN.

It is worth pointing out that fiber-to-the-telecommunications enclosure (FTTE) is not considered to be part of the FTTx group of technologies, despite the similarity in name. FTTE is a form of structured cabling typically used in the enterprise local area network, where fiber is used to link the main computer equipment room to an enclosure close to the desk or workstation [2]. Similarly, in fiber-to-the-desk a fiber connection is installed from the main computer room to a terminal at the desk.

September 23, 2011

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