In another FTTH announcement by a national carrier, Switzerland's incumbent operator (Swisscom) is focusing on deploying fibre optical networks to be able to compete with Swiss utility providers.

According to Swisscom CEO Carsten Schloter in an interview with Weltwoche, he said that the backbone of Swisscom's network has been transferred to fibre during the past year and the focus is now on rolling-out fibre to the home (FTTH), replacing the copper cables, which currently connect switches to the households.

Schloter mainly sees cable network operators as its competitors, as he thinks that alternative fixed network operator Sunrise is not able to invest in FTTH deployments. At the same time, Swisscom has proposed to its competitors to jointly roll-out a Switzerland-wide fibre optical network, targeting operators that are already investing in FTTH. The first pilot networks will be rolled out next month.

But in Australia, we just sit back waiting for the world to pass us by. Why are we even talking about FTTN! If its a funding issue (which in my opinion its not) it would be more beneficial to our economy and the community to roll out FTTH to 70% of households than FTTN to 98% of households.

For details of national strategies for other countries view a previously published article here.