Members of the FTTH Council Europe are active in every segment of the fibre to the home (FTTH) value chain. The Deployment and Operations (D&O) Committee is the place where technology experts come together to discuss, debate and educate the broader telecom ecosystem and help industry stakeholders understand how to deploy high quality full-fibre networks, addressing the large variety of challenges they face throughout Europe.

From design and planning, to optimal technology selection, roll out of operations, testing and maintenance, our key publication, the FTTH Handbook, brings together state-of-the-art information and recommendations to help every FTTH professional in the industry. Its 9th edition was unveiled on 15th September 2021 during the FTTH Virtual Conference 2021; it is already available for members of the FTTH Council Europe on a complementary basis and can be purchased by the general public here.

5G is fibre’s best friend! The D&O Committee has undertaken two valuable pieces of research to evaluate the potential benefits that are brought about through converged planning of FTTH and 5G backhaul networks.  We presented the results of these studies in a recent webinar, you can access the replay here.

More recently, the Committee has produced a white paper which details the reasons underpinning our position in favour of full-fibre compared to alternative broadband technologies. 

Insights from the Committee

 

 

Deployment & Operations Committee Advances Technical Initiatives Ahead of FTTH Conference 2026

Jan 23, 2026
Committee News | Deployment & Operations Committee |

The Deployment & Operations (D&O) Committee continues to drive progress across its two flagship technical initiatives: Fibre Deep – Passive Optical LAN (POLAN) Applications and Network Resilience & Maintenance. Both initiatives are advancing strongly, aiming to deliver comprehensive technical whitepapers ahead of the FTTH Conference 2026 in London.

The POLAN whitepaper has been completed and is currently circulated via the Member Engagement Platform for final review. It examines how Passive Optical LAN architectures can support fibre-deep deployment strategies, particularly in enterprise, campus, and multi-dwelling environments. The paper highlights key benefits, including scalability, energy efficiency, and reduced operational complexity, while providing comparisons with traditional copper LANs, deployment scenarios, and real-world case studies.

The Network Resilience & Maintenance whitepaper is progressing steadily, supported by active member contributions. It addresses resilient, fault-tolerant fibre network design, proactive maintenance, fault detection, and long-term operability, while exploring the role of AI and automation and resilience-by-design principles such as redundancy planning and security hardening.

Additionally, the Committee is initiating new workstreams to tackle emerging deployment challenges, including ultra-rural rollout strategies and planning the transition from HFC networks to full fibre, ensuring a smooth and efficient evolution of access technologies.

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