About the Committee

The Data Centre & Data Centre Interconnection Committee is the FTTH Council Europe's newest committee, established to reflect the Council's expanded remit across data centres and the fibre infrastructure that connects them.

The Committee's current work programme includes a report on hollow core fibre (HCF) and multi-core fibre (MCF), a DCI market study developed with the Board, and updates to the Market Panorama to capture the Council's broader scope. Alongside this, the Committee is developing a programme of educational webinars for members on AI-driven data centres, covering the underlying drivers and market trends, internal data centre architectures and wider interconnection architectures.

The Committee also leads the data centre and interconnection content at the annual FTTH Conference, shaping several hours of programming across the full breadth of the Council's expanded remit.
Further outputs will follow, including new assets, market studies and content developed for the upcoming FTTH Conference. Click here and join us!

This page is new and still growing. The Committee's assets, studies and Conference materials are currently in production and will be added here as they are published. In the meantime, you can follow the Committee's latest news below.

Leveraging fibre network benefits with Optical LAN technology

Mar 24, 2026

Reports & Studies | Deployment & Operations Committee |

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This white paper explores the transformative potential of Optical LAN, an enterprise and campus network built on Passive Optical Network (PON) technology. By replacing traditional copper infrastructure with thin, resilient fiber, passive splitters, and a centralized architecture, Optical LAN simplifies network design, enhances performance, and strengthens security across sectors including offices, healthcare, education, hospitality, government, transportation, and industry. Key benefits include significant capital and operational savings (40–56% upfront cost reductions and up to ~50% lower total cost of ownership), multi-gigabit scalability (1–25 Gb/s today with a roadmap to 50–100 Gb/s), long reach up to 20 km, and up to 70% lower energy consumption compared to legacy switching.

The paper also examines solution components, powering strategies, hybrid fiber-copper extensions, deployment practices, and service-provider integration, supported by real-world case studies demonstrating 29–41% total cost savings and reduced cabling requirements. Optical LAN provides a high-speed, reliable, energy-efficient, and future-proof network architecture that addresses modern connectivity, operational, and sustainability challenges.

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About the Committee

Leveraging fibre network benefits with Optical LAN technology

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