UAE jumps to top of FTTH penetration list

If you look at Panorama Research's recent list of the countries with the highest fiber to the home penetration rates, you may do a double take before the results completely click into place. The United Arab Emirates sits atop the FTTH penetration ranking, with a penetration rate of 72 percent. The surprise here may not be that the UAE is ranked well, but instead how quickly it ascended into such a lofty position. According to The Khaleej Times, investments by individual telecoms helped catapult the UAE into a leading role within the FTTH landscape.

Pushing ahead on FTTH deployment
The report explained that the telecom that did the most to push the UAE into the top spot wasEtisalat, a service provider that put significant funds into FTTH network deployment. Other nations at the top of the FTTH pyramid included South Korea with a 57 percent penetration rate. Japan, Russia, the United States and South France rounded out the group of global leaders in the move toward FTTH network installation.

Saleh Al Abdooli, CEO for Etisalat, told the news source that the telecoms efforts to deploy FTTH networks on a large scale are already paying dividends when it comes to making the UAE a more competitive nation on a global scale. Moving forward, high levels of FTTH penetration could help improve many aspects of the country, such as education and healthcare.

"We made investments worth Dh19billion (more than $5 billion) in the FTTH network coupled with the efforts of our qualified team due to our long term strategy for future growth," Al Abdooli told The Khaleej Times. "In fact, the penetration rate in the country has almost touched 80 per cent placing the UAE much ahead of other global competitors."

Considering the long-term implications of FTTH investments
Putting money into FTTH does not always contribute to major revenue gains because many subscribers will not put too much money into faster networks. Instead, many consumers tend to wait for prices to come done. However, FTTH network can attract businesses to a region and contribute to more efficient operations for government organizations, banks, healthcare companies and other types of companies that depend heavily on robust technologies. As a result, FTTH is often an innovation enabler in a region that can have major economic implications over time, even if revenue gains are not immediate.

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