What Fibre To the home can do for your community

Gone are the days of dial-up internet that takes hours to load a web page. The world we live in today is digitally-ruled. Almost everything we do requires an internet connection or a device that connects to the internet. Running a business or working from your home has never been easier. And so has shopping – with a click of a button, you can have your groceries (or anything else, for that matter) delivered straight to your home. Your children don’t need to go to the library to do research for school projects like years ago – everything can be done from a cellphone or laptop. You can even run your home security system straight from your cellphone when you are not home. And this is all thanks to fibre to the home.

Fibre to the home is the most advanced, fastest and most reliable internet connection that you can install to your home. But it is more than just an internet connection. Fibre to the home is quite literally changing the way we build new communities and communications networks around the world. Today, fibre connections are used by millions of homes around the world, and there is no slowing down any time soon! Fibre is being implemented and installed into homes at a rapid rate and unlike other internet connections like copper, the resources used to create fibre cables can never run out.

So what exactly is fibre? And why should you have fibre installed to your home? Fibre optics is still considered a new technology in internet technology, even though it has been around for years already. Fibre optic technology works with thousands of tiny glass fibres, slightly thicker than a strand of hair, bundled together to create a cable. The glass fibres use light to transmit signals that contain data and information, and this technology is what makes fibre as fast as it is. Fibre optics literally harnesses the speed of light to transfer data and information. Fibre to the home, to be more specific, is the installation and use of optical fibre from a central point directly to the individual buildings like apartments and houses to provide unprecedented high-speed internet access.

Fibre to the home is the fastest, most reliable source of the internet that you can have installed in your home. It surpasses speeds of any other kind of internet technology and is very reliable due to the fact that it is not affected by external influences like storms, degradation and other signals and frequencies – meaning that you will have an internet connection that is steady and reliable even during peak times.

Fibre to the home is helping to build the next generation of connected communities around the world and is truly changing the world as we speak. Think about this: how would the world evolve and advance if we can ensure a steady, reliable and fast internet connection that is available publicly? Think about the improvements in health care, the education system, smart cities – these can all be improved and created. Not to mention the millions of jobs that fast internet

connection in communication can create. Access to high bandwidth, as well as symmetrical bandwidth (both high upload and download speeds), creates opportunities to develop and exploit many new types of services and applications. These services can enhance our quality of life drastically. 

Today it is ultra-high-speed broadband infrastructure that will become the determining factor in ensuring the economic fortune of countries worldwide. So why should governments spend millions on implementing fast fibre when there are more issues to deal with? Well, simply put, fibre can help solve these issues, as well as grow countries financially. Fast fibre internet can help solve these important issues for many countries:

–       The economic downturn and global competition

–       Education and unemployment

–       Sustainability and environment

–       The digital divide

–       Ageing populations

Here is one example of how fibre to the home can help a country or city solve a standing issue or grow – imagine if 70% of people who commute to work every day, could work from home instead? There would be much less pollution, a higher productivity rate for staff members, and companies can save money on keeping offices running. This is beneficial for both the economy and the environment. 

Fibre allows us to build smart cities and homes – and this is the future of the world.

Large cities need to become smart to manage growth. Smaller communities need to become smart to retain their population and enhance lifestyle and economic opportunities. Optical fibre has the reliability and scalable capacity to supply data when and where it is needed: real-time traffic information to an ambulance driver, the location of an underground gas mains to a construction foreman; remote access to lessons for a sick-at-home ten-year-old child; prompt, professional medical aid for an elderly gentleman who has collapsed on the street; the arrival time of the next bus, how much fuel it uses, and when it needs maintenance; the location of the nearest taxi or nearest parking space… the list is truly endless.