FTTH round-up

Since my last post updating the FTTH market, relatively many deals were announced:

• Hafslund, a Norwegian utility, will build a network in Ostlandet. Dirk van der Woude points me to the fact that this part of Norway, which includes Oslo, actually contains almost 50% of the entire population. Hafslund is controlled by the city of Oslo.
• More utilities and municipalities at work: the tiny town of Dijkerhoek (NL) will get a network; the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the US Department of Agriculture approves PacketFront's solution, which makes deployments eligible for RUS grants and loans; the Swedish town of Sundbyberg will get a network; both Powell and Cody (Wyoming) are exploring PPP (public private partnerships).
• And from the telco front: activities at Telekom Slovenije, Golden Telecom (Russia), neuf Cegetel (France) and France Telecom, and finally TEO (Lithuania).
• Finally, regulatory developments. Arcep (France) is consulting on two issues: duct access and sharing of the 'last 10 meters'. In related news to the latter, the FCC has issued rulings that should facilitate both telcos and cablecos easier access to MDUs (multiple-dwelling units). I always thought differently, but sheetrock is labelled 'physically inaccessible'.