FTTB/FTTH stands for state-of-the-art technology, only the expansion is slightly delayed in new territory.

Welcome to Neuland deluxe: To have fiberglass without having fiberglass!

Dear fellow sufferers and pioneers of new territory, hand on heart: We are all fed up with the digital patchwork we call infrastructure here in Germany. While other countries have been surfing at gigabit speeds over pure fiber optic lines for a long time, we often still struggle through the broadband jungle.

The ultimate joker in the technology quartet is, of course, the Fiber optic expansion. But as is so often the case in the land of poets and thinkers (and copper wires), reality is more complicated than the glossy glossy brochures of the telecommunications giants suggest.

State of play: Let's call it ‘expandable’.

The golden rule of fiberglass distance

First, a short crash course so you know what we're complaining about here (at a very high level, but later): It's about the famous abbreviations:

• FTTC (Fiber to the Curb): The fiber only goes up to the gray box on the road (Curb). The last, decisive way to your home is via the good old copper line. This is the VDSL standard. It's okay, but the speed melts like ice in the sun the farther you live from the box.
  
• FTTB (Fiber to the Building): Things are getting much better here! The fiber optic cable goes all the way to your building, often into the basement. From there, the fiber energy is distributed either via Ethernet or coaxial cable (cable TV line) into the apartment. (I'm thinking of a typical rental apartment block, for example) Actually a top base.
  
• FTTH (Fiber to the Home): The Holy Grail. The fiber comes directly into your apartment (or at least into the connectionroom). This is the purest, fastest and most future-proof solution. That's what we want!

So far the theory of the most modern technology. In practice, especially in rural areas, however, the ‘new land’ looks more like an unfinished, sarcastic work of art.

The sad story of ‘half’ fibre

In the middle of last week, my buddy called me. He has just refurbished his newly purchased house and is so far happy: Last year, the street was torn open in his place and fiberglass was laid. He proudly proclaims: “I have FTTH! The fiber goes right into my box in the house. Now I finally order really fast upload!” (cable providers usually have 1Gbit/s down but only 50Mbit/s upload at their tariffs)

Full of anticipation, he calls his desired provider (in his case Vodafone) and asks for the pure fiber optic connection. The hotline's answer? A shrug for the soul:

“You have the fibre in your house, but you do not have fibre at your connection. You can only book cables.’

Uh, huh? Wait a minute. To have fiber without having fiber? Sounds crazy, but it is the sad reality in our ‘new country’.

The thing is relatively simple, albeit quite frustrating: In his place, the fibre optic line was laid to the house (FTTH), but the actual distribution boxes in the place – and thus the underlying infrastructure of the provider – are still running on. Cable connection (coaxial).

In plain language, this means:

1. The data is sent via fiber optic to the main distributor in the town (modern).
2. In the distribution box (or often already in the basement of the house) comes a converter It is used to immediately convert the lightning-fast optical signal back to the good old copper/coaxial.
3. The data from the house, which is received via fiber optic, is also transferred back to the cable network.

The end of the song: Although the fiber optic literally ends up in its newly renovated basement, my friend doesn't book an FTTH connection (or a pure FTTB access), but just one. Cable Internet connection.

At some point, according to the comforting statement, the distributors will then It has been converted to pure fiberglass. And then He gets the promised dream speeds. Until then, it reads: Wait for the ‘second stage’ to be ignited in new territory.

Now, of course, other considerations come into play. Do I buy the FritzBox Cable now and take the risk that it will be useless because the provider suddenly gets into gear and completes the expansion? If I prefer to rent the box, will I get the new fiberglass frit when I remove it?

whining at a high level – with a justified undertone

Okay, it's complaining at a high level, you have to admit that. The buddy is still blessed with his cable connection. Others are still allowed to deal with a no longer up-to-date 16 Mbps DSL line because the distance to the distributor is far too wide for VDSL or the signal quality is so poor that no stable line is achieved. Or they even have tedious hybrid solutions with 6 Mbit/s + LTE option.

But hey, this is where the sarcastic undertone comes into play:

Why? Why is it expensive all over the place? Trenching (twisting the streets) operated to dig up modern fiber optic lines, then to both Do (in-house and in the distributor) immediately end up making a converter to cable technology again?

If you're already doing the most work and laying the fiber, you'd have it right away. Completely decent You can get ready. Now we have the paradox of half Modernity: The fibre is there, but the active technique provides the ‘yesterday’.

We are looking forward to the third stage, when the cable connection will be switched to fiber optic in a few years. Until then, my buddy is surfing in his new, refurbished house in the Neuland deluxe. A real wild patchwork rug that you won't find so quickly in any other modern industrialized state.

TL:DR

Patience is a virtue. In this sense: Happy surfing and don't despair, even if your fiber optic is only half, at some point the expansion will be completed!