FTTR+X: Driving High-Quality Development of Home Broadband

In recent years, fiber to the room (FTTR) has emerged as a key driver for operators to enhance the value of gigabit. Its primary value lies in improving user experience and increasing ARPU. According to market research data from China’s three major operators, the satisfaction of FTTR users is 3.8% higher than that of ordinary gigabit users. In terms of ARPU improvement, for new gigabit users, the ARPU from those subscribing to FTTR integrated packages is 30% higher than from those choosing non-FTTR integrated packages. For existing subscribers, upgrading to the FTTR package boosts the ARPU value by RMB 16–53.

FTTR also plays an important role in retaining existing subscribers and acquiring new ones. Research shows that among medium- and high-end users with an APRU value of RMB 120 or above, the retention rate of FTTR integrated package users is 2.2% higher than that of ordinary broadband users. The new user acquisition rate for FTTR exceeds 35%, with particularly prominent growth among high-value user groups subscribing to packages priced at RMB 199 or above.

It can be seen that FTTR not only provides users with a high-speed and stable gigabit experience, but also creates new business value and innovation opportunities for operators. It has become an industry consensus to vigorously develop FTTR. By June 2024, the number of FTTR users in China had exceeded 20 million. Dell'Oro Group predicts that this number will rise to over 80 million by 2026. At present, FTTR is in the market incubation period in global markets. In 2023, more than 20 operators released FTTR packages to promote its adoption.  Outside China, over 350,000 FTTR users is expected to be developed by 2026.

In the future, the FTTR market will continue to gain momentum, increasing the value of connections and promoting high-quality development of home broadband. In response to the more specific scenarios in the smart home field and the trend of digital intelligence technologies such as AI, ZTE has taken the lead in proposing the innovative concept of “FTTR+X” for all-optical operations (Fig. 1). Built on an all-optical foundation, ZTE is actively exploring three aspects: connecting experience, scenario ecosystemization, and cloud-network intelligence, to deepen and expand the scope of home broadband services, enhance the sustainable operation of FTTR, and facilitate the high-quality development of home broadband.

Connecting Experience: Higher Rates, Stronger Connections, and a Unified Home Network

In the era of managing existing home broadband users, user experience has become a key factor in the competitive landscape of the industry. With FTTR, home networks achieve ultra-gigabit speeds. By working in tandem with Wi-Fi and networking technologies, FTTR bridges the last 10 meters of the gigabit network to terminals, creating an ultra-fast intelligent home network that delivers a seamless and instantaneous connection experience.

In the Wi-Fi technology field, Wi-Fi 7 began commercial use in 2024. ZTE has been deeply involved in the development and implementation of Wi-Fi 7 standards, and worked with industry partners to drive continuous exploration and innovation. In June 2023, ZTE released the industry’s first Wi-Fi 7 FTTR product. This product introduces 4096-QAM technology, which enhances the throughput performance by 20%, meeting the demands of high-bandwidth services such as UHD video, high-speed downloads, and home data storage. In addition, the integration of multi-link operation (MLO) and multi-RU (MRU) technology enables terminal devices to connect to multiple Wi-Fi hotspots simultaneously. This capability allows user devices to get faster access speed and lower latency, ensuring the reliability and stability of latency-sensitive services such as online conferences and gaming. With ZTE’s in-house developed scenario-based AI algorithm, the product provides home users with faster, smarter, and more comprehensive home networks, enhancing their broadband experience.

To address issues such as insufficient coordination between home networking technologies and disorderly competition of air interfaces, ZTE has introduced D-WLAN technology. The main ONT collects information, makes decisions, and implements centralized control over both optical and Wi-Fi transmission within a single network to achieve unified and coordinated resource configuration of optical links and air interface links. Through real-time control of the room ONTs by the main ONT, the solution ensures orderly coordination of Wi-Fi air interfaces in an FTTR network, dynamic link management, and roaming control, thus maximizing air interface performance and enhancing customer QoE.

Scenario Ecosystemization: Multi-Service Integration to Improve Home Network Value

With the growing demand for personalized and scenario-based smart homes, FTTR has integrated with multi-scenario services based on its characteristics of large bandwidth, low latency, and high concurrency. It not only brings ultimate experience to end users but also helps operators expand their operation strategies.

In the video field, improvements in home network speed and quality lay a solid foundation for the development of UHD video and virtual reality (VR) services in the home environment. ZTE’s multi-service integrated video cloud platform, built on a microservice architecture, improves existing service functions while incubating new services. By delving into technologies such as ultra-low latency, low-bitrate high definition, video super resolution, and edge-cloud collaboration, the platform enriches home video experience, meeting users’ increasingly diversified demands and continuously improving user experience.

In terms of terminals, ZTE has launched the smart medium screen series. This smart medium screen integrates audio-visual entertainment, smart control, security, home care, health care, elderly care and edutainment functions, creating an all-round smart home center. These products have been applied in several provinces, and ZTE has been collaborating with operators, communities, and institutions to build a full-scenario elderly care platform. Additionally, the smart mini-projector offers home users a cinematographic experience with its 120-inch large screen and high-definition image quality, and extensive content resources that allow for high-quality entertainment and audio enjoyment.

The smart security scenario is another key area of user interest. ZTE provides an intelligent security solution based on edge-cloud collaboration. The AI console, based on cloud computing, features full-process automation capabilities, from data labeling to model deployment. This solution is widely used in home, community, and rural scenarios, offering home health monitoring and security functions together with AI-enabled home care cameras, visual doorbells, smart displays, and smart locks.

Currently, Wi-Fi networks are widely accessible, serving as important communication infrastructure. Beyond communication, Wi-Fi can also be utilized to perceive and measure the activity status of specific objectives in an  environment. Wi-Fi sensing technology expands the use of Wi-Fi network devices, enabling them to monitor the health status of family members while ensuring privacy protection, and it can achieve integration with scenarios such as elderly care, unattended monitoring, and anomaly alarming, expanding the value of home networks.

Additionally, based on edge-cloud collaboration technology, FTTR can empower cloud applications in multiple scenarios, such as scenario acceleration and green Internet access, further enriching home network services and improving the user experience.

To address the demands of diverse smart home scenarios, ZTE’s new-generation FTTR gateway, launched in September (Fig. 2), features a screen and supports various broadband and narrowband protocols such as low-power Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and BLE, establishing an IoT foundation for smart homes. It integrates the home control center, security center and network management center, enabling users to enjoy smart life across multiple scenarios. This marks the transition from a traditional network pipeline to a smart home ecological control center, positioning ZTE at the forefront of of FTTR industry development.

Cloud-Network Intelligence: Building Future Home Computing Centers

With the development of smart home and new technologies, home users’ demands for intelligence are growing. Users expect better solutions for data storage, processing, and privacy protection, along with higher demands for the smoothness and response speed of video and gaming experiences. Besides, they have increasingly higher requirements for the intelligence of smart home devices. These factors promote the integration of video rendering, private storage, and AI large model technologies into the home environment.

Looking ahead, homes will become important nodes in computing power networks. Each home needs a computing center to meet the demands of diverse application scenarios. These centers will act as extensions of computing power networks, and will continuously expand their capabilities to adapt to new service scenarios. Overtime, they will gradually transition from providing a single service to providing more comprehensive, scenario-based services, bringing users a richer, more convenient, and more secure smart life experience.

Home computing centers play a key role in the entire computing power network. To address the rapid iteration of algorithms and applications, system design must fully consider the coordination and cooperation among cloud computing, edge computing, and local computing. In addition, it is essential to strike a balance between home users’ acceptance of device prices and their recognition of long-term service value, and the layout of edge-side and cloud-side computing power must be planned reasonably to achieve an optimal configuration of terminal devices and cloud computing resources.

As the foundation of home connections, FTTR has the potential to serve as a home computing center. The new-generation FTTR gateway integrates multi-scenario intelligent computing functions such as built-in NAS, AI, Wi-Fi sensing and IoT scenario identification. ZTE is committed to developing new intelligent computing business packages together with operators.

Early in 2020, ZTE carried out the first pilot verification of the all-optical home network, and collaborated with operators to gradually promote the commercial implementation of FTTR in both the home and industrial markets. From 2020 to 2024, ZTE has launched five generations of products over five years and implemented the “FTTR+X” strategy, consistently leading the development of the industry.

Looking ahead, ZTE will continue to strengthen the foundation of the FTTR industry, working with operators and industry chain partners to drive the adoption of FTTR technology in both home and industry applications, while assisting operators in achieving new breakthroughs in home broadband and industrial value operations.