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

 

 

D&O Committee Releases POLAN Whitepaper and Advances Network Resilience Work

The Deployment & Operations (D&O) Committee continues to advance its work across two flagship technical initiatives: Fibre Deep – Passive Optical LAN (POLAN) Applications and Network Resilience & Maintenance.

The POLAN whitepaper has now been officially released and is available to the wider community. The publication explores how Passive Optical LAN architectures can support fibre-deep deployment strategies, particularly in enterprise, campus, and multi-dwelling environments. It highlights key benefits such as scalability, energy efficiency, and reduced operational complexity, alongside comparisons with traditional copper LANs, deployment scenarios, and real-world case studies.

Building on this momentum, the Committee hosted a well-attended workshop at the FTTH Conference in London, sparking valuable discussions on the growing adoption of POLAN in the market.

The Network Resilience & Maintenance whitepaper is progressing steadily, supported by active member engagement. In parallel, the FTTH Handbook is being updated to reflect recent publications, ensuring alignment and consistency across technical guidance.

These initiatives reinforce the Committee’s role in delivering practical, forward-looking solutions for efficient, secure, and future-proof fibre deployments across Europe.