Institutions lending money to fibre network builders are focusing their investments on homes \u2018activated\u2019 in an attempt to maximise returns, according to the FTTH Council Europe\u2019s latest overview of fibre financing transactions. After reaching an all time high in 2022, the challenging market environment has led to FTTX financing markets experiencing less but stable activity over the past six months.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompanies involved in rolling out fibre networks across Europe remain strongly supported by the finance sector which continues to see the importance of FTTH and FTTX technologies,\u201d said FTTH Council President Roshene McCool. \u201cOf course, increasing take-up is vital to generating revenue which is why the FTTH Conference 2025 has dedicated a session to exploring how the sector can better monetise their activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The March 2025 update<\/a> of the \u2018Overview of fibre financing transactions in selected European Countries\u2019 report \u2013 produced for the FTTH Council Europe by Macquarie \u2013 is one of several important reports released by the Council ahead of this week\u2019s FTTH Conference.<\/p>\n Also released ahead of the conference was a white paper<\/a> from the FTTH Council Europe\u2019s Open Access Working Group which set out five guiding principles of a truly open access wholesale environment. The principles aim to define a \u2018gold standard\u2019 for open access as well as helping to foster a healthy and competitive market environment, independent of specific regional models or organisations.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past decade, billions of Euros of private investment has been channeled into building out fibre networks throughout Europe,\u201d said FTTH Council Director General Vincent Garnier. \u201cTo ensure these massive investments deliver for the end customer a fair and open competitive market is vital. We encourage stakeholders to consider the principles of Open Access as one potential approach to realising the benefits of a full-fibre approach.\u201d<\/p>\n Recognising the advances in home networking technologies such as Wi-Fi 7, Fibre to the Room (FTTR), Wi-Fi Mesh and containerisation, the FTTH Council Europe has released the third edition<\/a> of the In-home Broadband Excellence (IBE) Guide. The guide covers three broad areas; how to extend fibre performance to the end device, how to manage the user experience and how to add value and monitise it. This edition recognises the importance of high quality and consistency in the deployment and installation of in-home infrastructure. The Council hopes that the guide will establish itself as the de-facto standard reference work for communication and internet service providers.<\/p>\n The Deployment and Operations committee also released two whitepapers in advance of the conference. The first, \u201cThe role of IT in accelerating FTTH Deployments and Operations\u201d<\/a> covers topics including IT solutions for key challenges faced by operators in deploying and operating fibre networks and addresses FTTx network pain points at the Plan, Design, Build, and Operate stages. The second, \u201cA case for end-to-end fixed access solution disaggregation\u201d<\/a>, presents a case for disaggregating end-to-end fixed access solutions: a strategic shift from traditional vertically integrated, silo-based approaches to more open, standards-driven optical access networks.<\/p>\n