Why we need FTTH-based gigabit internet access

Streaming requires only so much bandwidth, but there remain several reasons to want gigabit FTTH.

There are really a limited number of reasons. The first and last are relevant to operators, the others to end-users.

1. Opex. FTTH brings large savings to operators.
2. Speed, bandwidth. FTTH can handle speeds of 1 or more Gb/s.
3. Downloading. It can never go too fast. And uploading is generally slow on any other infrastructure. The asymmetric nature of traffic has nothing to do with this argument.
4. Redundancy, reliability, dedicated & future-proof access.
• Only on FTTH are real-world speeds comparable to headline speeds.
• Screens are getting bigger.
• Growing video traffic.
• Quality is getting better (HD, UHD, etc.)
• Web pages are becoming heavier, with more graphics, auto-play video etc.
• There will be more devices, more users.
• New applications.
• Backhaul for (offloaded) traffic, including tethering, mobile hotspots.
• Multi-tasking, including app updates, software updates, photo/video uploading etc.
5. Latency. FTTH beats other technologies. This is especially important for critical (but low-bandwidth!) IoT services.
6. Marketing. No matter what, speed sells.