Broadband Wagon Greater connectivity is coming to a neighborhood near you. What will it mean for businesses?
By Mike Hogan
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
It's about as exciting as the wiring in your walls. Actually, Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) is wiring in your walls-specifically, a new blend of fiber-optic and Ethernet cable.
Still not that exciting, huh? But what you do with it could be, and it may already be headed for your neighborhood. FTTP is one way broadband providers plan to extend the benefits of the superwide national fiberoptic backbone the "last mile" to your wall outlets. Unlike today's aging copper phone lines, it promises virtually unlimited bandwidth.
Verizon figures that, by year-end, it will be able to offer 1 million Americans in a handful of Southern cities either 5Mbps downloads over fiber for less than $40 per month, a 15Mbps pipe for less than $50, or a 30Mbps connection not yet priced. BellSouth has quietly pulled fiber past 1 million homes and is using it for some of its "DSL" services. SBC will spend up to $6 billion on it over the next several years.
The rest of this article is locked.
Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.
Already have an account? Sign In