Light My Fibre

FTTH networks progress “Downunder”

John Nixon • Dec 10, 2012

Australia: The NBN is still a political “hot potato”, with its future and form intimately linked to the outcome of new Federal elections due to be held some time in 2013. Until then, Mike Quigley and his team forge ahead with true FTTH (Fibre to the Home). Should the right-wing Coalition win the elections, their communications spokesperson has … Read More

Recent Thoughts – Australian NBN and New Zealand UFB

John Nixon • Sep 17, 2012

    National Fibre Optic-based broadband networks are being installed right now in Australia and New Zealand.         I read every day criticism about the slow progress, and even the overall justification of these two major projects. Typical of this is “Why the NBN could be a white elephant“, published by a … Read More

CommunicAsia Singapore 2012

John Nixon • Jul 08, 2012

          I was extremely pleased to join my colleagues, friends and clients recently at CommunicAsia in the new Marina Bay Sands conference centre in Singapore. This major event moved a year ago from the old expo centre near the airport to this brand-new complex  near the island of Sentosa. The whole project was designed by … Read More

FTTH – RF or no RF? A big question.

John Nixon • May 30, 2012

I have been vaunting the merits of RF Overlay over FTTH (Fibre to the Home) for a long time. Yes I confirm that one of my clients is a leading researcher, manufacturer and vendor of 1550 nm RF solutions. In working with them, I have become convinced that delivering broadcast TV over fibre is an excellent, reliable and inexpensive option. Read More

TV: New Super High-definition Standards

John Nixon • Feb 23, 2012

We’ve all been impressed when watching the 1080p high definition TV standard. Well hang on to your hats, there is bigger and better coming! The new 4k standard (some 4.000 vertical lines) has hit the market, as displayed by this photo courtesy of LG. “Who needs it?” I can hear people ask. Well the way technology is going, we will … Read More

New Caledonia

John Nixon • Dec 02, 2011

New Caledonia is an interesting, in fact fascinating place. I had the opportunity to live and work there for many years. Following the recent construction of two new processing plants, New Caledonia is now the second biggest producer of Nickel metal in the world, after Russia. The main island lies just two hours flying time North-East of Brisbane, and is … Read More

NASA and the Speed of Light

John Nixon • Sep 27, 2011

NASA moves from Radio to Laser Light for data transmission. We have often heard the argument that FTTH is really not needed now that G3 and G4 wireless technology is available. I’m sure I’ve mentioned previously that any radio (wireless) data transmission system will NEVER HAVE the bandwidth of a fibre network. The reason is simple. The amount of information … Read More

What is DiDo?

John Nixon • Aug 25, 2011

A recent white paper describes an invention in the USA which is touted to increase greatly the bandwidth availability of wireless internet access. DiDo stands for “distributed input, distributed output”. The news was immediately grabbed by the media here in Australia, saying that it made the NBN (National Broadband Network) project redundant and a waste of taxpayer money. Read More

FTTH News Update

John Nixon • Jul 11, 2011

I sincerely regret missing the FTTH Asia-Pacific Council conference in Delhi and CommunicAsia in Singapore recently due to medical treatment. I’m now looking forward to being able to travel again and meeting our many readers and contacts at these events. The OSP Conference (Outside Plant) in Cincinatti 12-14 September and the FTTH Council USA Conference in Orlando 27-30 … Read More

Fibre lights me!

John Nixon • Jun 14, 2011

Having been involved in lighting fibre for some years now, it was interesting to find myself on the receiving end. After cancer surgery, I am in the middle of 25 sessions of radiotherapy. Another massive and impressive machine that carefully focuses a strong photon beam on to the affected area from several directions, hopefully destroying the remaining cancer cells. At … Read More