FTTP Opportunities in Asia Pacific

There are several ways to promote fiber to the premises (FTTP) deployment in the Asia-Pacific region. The digital divide in the region is extreme: with several developing countries lacking access to broadband while others have very high rates of deployment and penetration of FTTP. The article discusses several opportunities and challenges in tackling the digital divide.

In Asia-Pacific region, fiber optic cable deployment for access to broadband is the only viable option. For countries that enjoy high rates of penetration, the state was involved in one way or the other. A high level support of fiber to the premises in Japan and South Korea, along with government funds in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore have resulted in fast, resilient Internet. As such, initiatives like the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS) project are also useful.

The article identifies infrastructure sharing and co-investment by market players as ways to improve Internet connectivity in the region. Although it is challenging, Switzerland has successfully implemented the practice. Eventually, the goal for the Asia-Pacific region is to have access to 5G Internet but without the collaboration of all players, it may not materialize soon.

To read the entire article:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fttp-opportunities-asia-pacific-benoit-felten/