Health & Fitness
Shopping For a New Home? Consider FTTH
A fiber connection to your home can add around $5,000 in value when you are connected to this advanced technology. Read why.
Consider how your Internet usage has evolved in the past few years. Remember when you first got off dial-up and 1.5 megabits per second was so cool? If you're like most people, you now expect at least 12 or 20 Mbps to fuel all of your computers, tablets, smart phones, game boxes and internet-ready televisions. If emerging technologies such as HD Internet Provided Television (IPTV), 3D holographic games, interactive 'live' television and cloud Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) are going to become everyday household items we will need Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) to support the bandwidth for these future products.
Most FTTH networks being installed today offer transmission speeds up to 100 Mbps. However, fiber is considered 'future proof', meaning that the technology has almost unlimited bandwidth and a very 'long reach'. Today, broadband Internet is typically delivered on twisted pair cable (DSL) or coaxial cable, but the connection speeds and available bandwidth over these metallic conductors is limited and can't come close to the bandwidth that fiber can deliver. In a nutshell, FTTH will promote the development and deployment applications feeding our connected lifestyle for years to come!
The other good news is that this fiber technology is already affordable and service providers understand the need to build a network that is affordable to consumers now. As a matter of fact, many service providers are simply putting fiber in the ground for many new developments. The product and construction costs are pretty much a wash compared to copper cables, so it makes financial sense for service providers to build their FTTH networks for the future.
On the consumer side, many experts believe that having a home connected by fiber today increases the property value by about $5,000 (according to the ftthcouncil.org). Another source indicates “The average homeowner sees FTTH being worth an additional $4,000-$7,000 per home”. Why? Because FTTH will be able to handle the Internet uses that are coming in the future. Similarly, for the home developer, this value to the homeowner may translate into faster sales. These new fiber services vary greatly across the country from about $80 for data only, up to the $250 range for the much more robust packages that include data, voice, video, IPTV, home security and home automation services.
FTTH is already available in several new residential Ankeny developments to include: Deer Creek, Otter Creek, Rock Creek Crossing, Centennial Pointe, Northgate, Sienna Falls and Woodland Hills. Several other Ankeny developments are also planned for FTTH deployment in 2013 to include Prairie Trail, Autumn Crest, Trestle Point and The Grove. Obviously, if you find or build your dream house in Ankeny, FTTH may not matter- but to others it may be something to consider. Regardless, now you don't have to move to Chicago or New York to get Fiber-to-the-Home!