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

 

 

Leveraging fibre network benefits with Optical LAN technology

Mar 24, 2026
Reports & Studies | Deployment & Operations Committee |

This white paper explores the transformative potential of Optical LAN, an enterprise and campus network built on Passive Optical Network (PON) technology. By replacing traditional copper infrastructure with thin, resilient fiber, passive splitters, and a centralized architecture, Optical LAN simplifies network design, enhances performance, and strengthens security across sectors including offices, healthcare, education, hospitality, government, transportation, and industry. Key benefits include significant capital and operational savings (40–56% upfront cost reductions and up to ~50% lower total cost of ownership), multi-gigabit scalability (1–25 Gb/s today with a roadmap to 50–100 Gb/s), long reach up to 20 km, and up to 70% lower energy consumption compared to legacy switching.

The paper also examines solution components, powering strategies, hybrid fiber-copper extensions, deployment practices, and service-provider integration, supported by real-world case studies demonstrating 29–41% total cost savings and reduced cabling requirements. Optical LAN provides a high-speed, reliable, energy-efficient, and future-proof network architecture that addresses modern connectivity, operational, and sustainability challenges.

View all