'Showcasing a Brighter Future' is the theme of the next edition of the FTTH Conference, taking place at the Stockholmsmässan exhibition centre in Stockholm, Sweden, from 18 to 20 February 2014.
FTTH Council Europe, which is organising the event, says the The Nordic nations – and Sweden especially – have become the most advanced fibre countries in Europe. Nearly half of all Swedish households have access to a FTTH connection, and 23 per cent of homes in the country are already FTTH subscribers. Norway, Denmark and Finland also have high levels of FTTH deployment and adoption.
Karin Ahl, President of the FTTH Council Europe (pictured) summed up: 'The timing is perfect, because a lot is happening in Sweden right now. Significant public and private investments are stimulating further FTTH deployments, and the FTTH Conference will give us a timely opportunity to unveil these recent compelling stories to our delegates.'
A programme of prestigious speakers has already been lined up. The keynote speaker will be David Bosshart, CEO of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for Economic and Social Studies in Zurich. Bosshart will discuss FTTH from his perspective as an expert on consumer culture and the cultural impact of technology changes. He said: 'There’s a rapid and very fascinating consumerisation of technology going on, but the real battle is about the future infrastructure and about big data. No one predicted these new patterns just a few years ago. And they are evolving in a direction we don’t know yet.'
Anna-Karin Hatt, Swedish minister for information technology and energy, has been invited to open the FTTH Conference 2014. She said: 'The target of the Swedish government’s strategy for Broadband deployment is that 90 per cent of all Swedish households and companies should have access to 100 Mbit/s by the year 2020. We are halfway there, but there are still challenges ahead.
'I am delighted to see that Stockholm will host the next FTTH Conference. I hope that you will learn from us, and that we can exchange new insights and share ideas. Welcome to Sweden and I hope your conference will be very successful.'
