By David Coleman, Chief Product Officer at Frogfoot Networks
The connectivity and ubiquity of fibre remains a priority, globally. In the UK, Ofcom is predicting that the country will achieve more than 80% of full fibre coverage over the next two years. Already in Japan, Iceland, Korea, Spain and Sweden it is more than 80% while South Africa is clambering forwards to connect as many households as possible with an impressive 2400% increase in fibre connections over the past seven years. But what does this upward fibre trend mean for the connectivity solution in 2024?
First is the anticipated shift towards more affordable solutions for cash-strapped consumers. The pressure placed on people from an economic standpoint is trickling down into all aspects of daily life with most consumers focusing more on cost than on speed. This is likely going to trigger a flurry of price announcements that will balance changing speeds within different packages more aligned with customer needs.
That said, economic pressures are affecting the ISPs as much as consumers – dollar pressure and inflationary costs are being felt by service providers so most will increase their prices across the board as of February 2024. A deft balance between price and performance will soften the price blow, but many companies are unable to continue absorbing the impact of the current climate and have to pass some of the costs on to the consumer.
The move to faster service is in line with a global trend. Internationally, consumers are gaining access to speeds beyond a gig. There has been this ceiling on fibre to the home (FTTH) of a gig both upload and download, but nobody has actively ventured beyond this for a home offering in the past, although it has been standard practice for fibre to the business (FTTB). Now, companies are breaking the ceiling and introducing higher speeds to remain competitive and there’s a collapse happening in the middle and higher segments.