TAMUNING, Guam–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GTA TeleGuam Wednesday said it is expanding ultra high-capacity broadband access into another residential neighborhood on Guam using fiber optic lines leading directly into subscribers’ homes.
GTA TeleGuam’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network build-out in Toto is part of the company’s overall strategy to build a communications infrastructure that will help the company usher in new broadband products and services at affordable prices in Guam.
Since launching its multi-million dollar fiber-to-the-home network initiative last October, GTA TeleGuam has built an underground fiber-to-the-home network in the communities of Talo Verde in Tumon, North Tipalao, a new housing development on Naval Station, and Ironwood, a new housing community in Dededo. These neighborhood fiber installations are in addition to the typhoon-resistant multiple fiber network rings and extensive fiber infrastructure the company has in place throughout the island.
In contrast, the FTTH installation in Toto will be trialing an aerial fiber distribution approach.
“By installing aerial cable, GTA TeleGuam is able to accelerate reach and access to more homes on Guam,” said Lawrence P. Perez, executive vice president of operations for GTA TeleGuam.
“As part of this fiber-to-the-home trial, GTA TeleGuam will be assessing constructability, economies of scale, customer acceptance, speed to coverage and network reliability between typhoon-resistant buried cables versus an aerial network,” Perez said.
GTA TeleGuam buried its fiber cables in the first two communities while the neighborhoods and homes were being built. However, burying cables in existing neighborhoods is more costly and time consuming and may be prohibitive by existing conditions.
In Toto, GTA TeleGuam plans to reach about 300 homes and businesses near the Harvest Christian Academy. This will bring the total neighborhood homes passed with fiber to about 800. The company expects to complete this project by October 2010.
“Although GTA TeleGuam has invested about $75 million on network expansion and improvements over the past five years, the company will assess future FTTH investments based on potential returns from a fair and competitive telecommunications market environment on Guam,” Perez said.
GTA TeleGuam already provides fiber access to about 90 percent of the business, military and government locations on Guam.
When finished, the new Toto fiber access will be initially engineered to provide up to 1 Gbps (Gigabits per second) of bandwidth capacity. For Internet access, GTA TeleGuam will be providing tiered offerings that will start at 10 Mbps (Megabits per second). The rest of the bandwidth will be available for digital television with more high definition channel streams as well as multiple set-top boxes and digital video recorders. Bandwidth can be increased and reallocated based on demand.
GTA TeleGuam provides fiber-to-the-home access as a standard network offering when customers sign up for the company’s digital television service called GUdTV. GTA TeleGuam will continue to use copper telephone wires for providing basic phone service to fiber-fed homes to ensure continuity of communications during power outages and typhoons.
Customers can bundle services such as home phone, Internet access, wireless and digital television to receive monthly service discounts.
