China's fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband access market needs further support from the government and telecom operators, according to Zhang Mu, board director of the FTTH Council Asia-Pacific.

FTTH, based on optical fiber, delivers high-speed voice, data and video services to both residential and business subscribers. It provides a bandwidth of around 100 times that of ADSL (asymmetrical digital subscriber line), one of the most popular broadband access technologies in China, based on copper lines.

"We are calling for preferential policies from the central government and more investment from telecom operators, as the market is far from satisfactory," Zhang said.

Ministry of Information Industry (MII) figures showed that more than 70 percent of its 51.89 million broadband subscribers last year were connected to the Internet via copper lines. This is compared to only 150,000 FTTH subscribers.

"We're expecting quick growth of FTTH subscribers in the next three years as the convergence of voice, data, and video services becomes more popular," Zhang said.

He said FTTH would be a better choice to meet demand for increasing bandwidth as a result of convergence and new applications such as IPTV, video on demand, IP-based voice and video gaming.

Zhang added that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai were a major boost for the deployment of FTTH in Beijing and Shanghai.

According to Dittberner Associates Inc, worldwide capital expenditure related to FTTH access technology would grow from US$3.7 billion in 2004 to US$22.8 billion in 2013. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to become the largest market for FTTH access technology, accounting for 52.8 percent of the total, or US$12 billion. And China alone would account for one-third of the region.

The MII announced at the 2007 Telecommunications Industry Development and Policy briefing last week that it would promote convergence of telecommunications, Internet and broadcasting, and cable TV networks this year. "It will be highly conducive for the development of FTTH in China," he said.

To further boost the development of FTTH in China, the FTTH Council Asia-Pacific will hold the Second Annual Conference and Exhibition in Beijing in July.

According to Zhang, international names such as China Telecom, CCTV, France Telecom, Ericsson and Alcatel will take part in the event.

The non-profit organization was set up in Singapore in February 2005 and has about 50 members from the broadband industry.

(China Daily March 28, 2007)