PETALING JAYA: As Malaysia enters the digital era, there is increasing internet use among youths, families and businesses, which has led to growing demands for high bandwidth, low latency and wide coverage.
To keep up with the times, information and communications technology and telecommunications (telco) providers have introduced Fibre to the Room (FTTR) as a solution to meeting such demands.
Huawei Malaysia Carrier Network Business Group head (Network Solutions) Victor Wong said FTTR is a new coverage mode for the home network in the gigabit era.
“It is an upgrade to home networking and a technological evolution in fibre optics with an enormous potential to further advance the digital age. FTTR has far-reaching implications for industries such as healthcare, education and entertainment.
“The technology uses optical fibres to transmit signals, which provide higher bandwidth and more stable network performance. It can support the transmission and sharing of various medical images, facilitating diagnosis and treatment with high speed and stability.”
Wong said doctors can perform diagnosis and surgical guidance remotely through FTTR’s high-speed and stable network connections.
This will improve the efficiency and precision of medical services as FTTR technology supports high-definition (HD) remote conferences and online discussions, apart from facilitating the sharing and exchange of education resources.
“Teachers can conduct remote classes and conduct online question and answer sessions with little interference, while for entertainment, users can enjoy richer and more vivid audio-visual experiences when watching HD videos and playing large multiplayer online games.”
Wong said even during the evening rush hour, everyone can enjoy high-speed internet access with zero latency and no packet losses. FTTR technology can also support emerging technologies, such as virtual reality and augmented reality. The FTTR network solution uses optical fibres as its transmission media to ensure network data security and prevent hacker attacks.
“The FTTR network can connect to multiple terminal devices and supports multiple intelligent devices and control systems, such as smart home controllers, intelligent locks, and smart lighting systems.”
TIME dotCom retail product head June Gan said FTTR upgrades the traditional Fibre to the Home (FTTH) by directly extending the optical fibre to each room or space.
“FTTR takes the traditional FTTH one step further by serving every room with consistent high-speed internet and better performance with fewer connection drops.”
Compared with traditional broadband access technologies, Gan said the FTTR technology overcomes many limitations and obstacles faced by other network technologies.
“In a traditional FTTH setting, fibre optic cables are pulled to individual homes, usually to central spaces such as the living room. The strength of a WiFi connection is dependent on several factors such as the distance of the user to the router and even concrete walls or mirrors.
“FTTR, on the other hand, continues to pull the fibre optic cables from the central space to designated rooms. This means that users can experience best-in-class internet speeds and performance everywhere.”
Gan said the initial cost of installing FTTR might be higher compared with ethernet cable network setups, but users can reap the benefits of high-speed internet and performance while retaining the aesthetics of their space.
“An advantage of fibre optic cables is that they are much thinner and more flexible than traditional ethernet cables. This makes them easier to instal and are practically invisible, ensuring that they won’t interfere with the aesthetics and design of your space.”
At present, only two telco providers – Time dotCom and CelcomDigi – offer FTTR in the country, while Huawei Malaysia provides the FTTR units, all-optical components and optical cable construction tools.
