U.S. fiber subscribers to hit 18 million by 2011

The number of U.S. households subscribing to fiber connections will increase from 3 million to 18 million by the end of 2011, predicts a new report from the industry research firm Parks Associates.

The report, called "FTTx and BPL: Analysis and Outlook," says that fiber subscriptions will join DSL and cable as mainstream broadband access methods over the next five years. The increase in subscriptions will be driven by aggressive deployment plans from the telcos and increased consumer demand for new data, voice and video services.

"While fiber is a small percentage of total U.S. broadband household subscriptions today, it will achieve a faster growth rate than what DSL and cable did after their inception," said Chris Roden, research analyst at Parks Associates.

"Companies like Verizon and AT&T are hoping to match and surpass the broadband offerings from the cable MSOs, and their bold plans to upgrade their existing copper networks will drive fiber growth. Increasing consumer demand for bundled services such as VOD and IPTV will also fuel the increase in fiber subscriptions."

For more information, visit www.parksassociates.com.