This Home is Fiber Connected – FTTH council badge says

Here is a encouraging and helpful work from FTTH council for the public. Fiber-to-the-Home Council announced that there are 34 telecom service providers approved for the council's network certification program in the effort's first two years as on 30th July 2008. FTTH Council certification is intended to help the public customers identify which providers are offering 100% fiber-optic connections for delivering next-generation video, Internet, and voice services.

This is a great idea implemented by FTTH council and must be appreciated. The certification allows certified providers to display a badge stating "This Home is Fiber Connected" at the subscriber premise, and to use the image on the badge in promoting their services. By using the image the subscribers are ensured that an installation done by the providers meets the FTTH Council's standard for running fiber-optic cable all the way to the boundary of the home.

Mr. Joe Savage is the president of FTTH council North America. He explained the achievements of the council during the last years in providing quality service to the public. FTTH council offers this program to ensure that there is no confusion, and that broadband and video subscribers know that they are getting the quality and bandwidth capabilities that are present only when fiber is run all the way to the home. The phenomenal growth from zero to 34 companies in two years shows how quickly FTTH is growing as a consumer technology in the North America.

The growing popularity of fiber to the home, along with the high performance and service quality widely associated with direct fiber connections, have prompted some providers that are still using copper in their last mile to claim that they deliver service over what they call a "fiber network”.

It is well known to everybody now that competing video or Internet service providers would want to associate their products with optical fiber. But consumers do not get the benefits of a 100% fiber network unless the fiber-optic cable goes all the way to the home. This is the reason why FTTH council came up with the certification program and the fiber-connected badge.

Though there are hundreds of providers in the United states offering fiber to the home to at least some of their subscribers, the FTTH Council certified networks connect to an estimated three quarters of all fiber-connected homes in the country The number of home connected through fiber is now estimated to be between 3 and 4 million households. Verizon became the first company to receive FTTH Council network certification and authorization to use the badge in 2006.

With fibers connected to home, the subscribers are ensured of faster data rates and more robust video services such as high definition and video on demand. Not limited to the above advantages only exactly, but consumers are also future-proofed for the next-generation of Internet services and applications, which are projected to consume many times the bandwidth as today's applications.

Below is the list of 34 FTTH Council certified providers:

Alpine Communications (Elkader, IA)
ATMC (Shallotte, NC)
Broadband Associates (Granite Bay, CA)
Burlington Telecom (Burlington, VT)
City of Wilson (Wilson, NC)
City Of Windom (Windom, MN)
Columbus Telephone Co. (Columbus, KS)
Connexion Technologies (Cary, NC)
CTC Telecom, Inc. (Cambridge, ID)
Elim Valley Development (St George, UT)
Embarq Corp. (Overland Park, KS)
Gainesville Regional Utilities (Gainesville, FL)
Genext, LLC (Wenatchee, WA)
GVTC (New Braunfels, TX)
Hancock Telecom (Greenfield, IN)
Home Telephone Co. (Moncks Corner, SC)
Horry Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (Conway, SC)
Jackson Energy Authority (Jackson, TN)
LBH, LLC (Sulphur, LA)
LightNex Communications (Billings, MT)
Molalla Communications Co. (Molalla, OR)
Morristown Utility System (Morristown, TN)
Moundville Telephone Co., Inc. (Moundville, AL)
NanoFibre Networks Inc. (Radium Hot Springs, BC, Canada)
NCW-Online (Wenatchee, WA)
Optical Entertainment Network, Inc. (Houston, TX)
Reedsburg Utility Commission (Reedsburg, WI)
T² Communications (Holland, MI)
UTOPIA (West Valley City, UT)
Verizon Services Corp. (Basking Ridge, NY)
West Wisconsin Telcom Cooperative (Downsville, WI)
WestelFiber (Boise, ID)
Xittel Telecommunications Inc. (Trois Rivieres, QC)
Zoomy Communications (Glenwood Springs, CO).