North America Leads Gigabit Deployments: Study

There are more than 500 operational or planned deployments of gigabit Internet services, with about 234 underway in the United States, test and measurement specialist Viavi found in a new Gigabit Monitor that will keep a running tab on those totals.

Viavi, which launched its visual database of global mobile, cable and telecom service deployments, said there are at least 350 “live” gigabit deployments on a global basis, with another 164 announced or underway using a mix of technologies, including GPON, DOCSIS 3.1, G.fast, LTE-A, (pre-standard) 5G and 802.11ac.

By technology platform, GPON, with 255 deployments, was well out in front, followed by DOCSIS 3.0 (37), Ethernet (30), LTE-A (10) and DOCSIS 3.1 (9). Looked at another way, 85% of the known gigabit deployments are based on fiber networks, versus 11% on hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks.

By region, North American had the largest share, at 61%, followed by Europe (24%), with the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and South America sharing the remaining 15%.

Viavi found that more than 70% of the live gigabit deployments being tracked were launched since the start of 2015.

Viavi noted that its Gigabit Monitor data can be viewed by geography or technology, and whether a service is Announced (service provider has publicly announced deployment plans in a given market), Under Construction (network build is underway), in Trial (a limited live network is in operation) or Commercial (service is currently available to consumers).

However, the database is not intended to be an “exhaustive resource,” noting that it’s based on publicly available data. Notably, ISPs marketing speeds “up to 1 Gbps” were not included.

The company said it will update the database “regularly,” and welcomes new submission or corrections.