FBA: FTTH Supply Chain Issues Significantly Alleviated

Recently, the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) updated its white paper on “Strategies to Mitigate Bottlenecks in the Current Fiber Broadband Supply Chain”. The new data in the white paper indicates that the supply chain issues in the fiber to the home (FTTH) field have been significantly alleviated.

Since last autumn, delivery times and supply chain efficiency have significantly improved:
-The shortest delivery time for optical cables has been reduced by 92%, from 52 to 60 weeks in the summer of 2022 to 4 to 10 weeks in March 2023.
-The minimum delivery time for fiber cabinets and splitters has been reduced by 60%, from 10-20 weeks in the summer of 2022 to 4-8 weeks in March 2023.
-The minimum delivery time for fiber multi-port terminals has been reduced by 80%, from 20-35 weeks in the summer of 2022 to 4-8 weeks in March 2023.
-The shortest delivery time for Conduit has been reduced by 80%, from 15-20 weeks in the summer of 2022 to 3-7 weeks in March 2023.
-The shortest delivery time for Hand holes has been reduced by 64%, from 22-26 weeks in the summer of 2022 to 8-14 weeks in March 2023.
-The minimum delivery time for home equipment has been reduced by 67%, from 12-24 weeks in the summer of 2022 to 4-10 weeks in March 2023.
Gary Bolton, President and CEO of FBA, stated: This latest supply chain information is encouraging for fiber optic broadband providers who are building reliable high-speed fiber optic broadband networks to connect their communities and narrow the digital asset gap. However, our supply chain working group also does warn that although the supply chain has eased, market demand will rise in the future. Therefore, companies should continue to focus on long-term planning and follow the white paper The mitigation strategy proposed in
The FBA will hold a webinar on May 9, 2023 at 11am Eastern Time to review the updates to the white paper.