FTTH Conference 2023: Award winners announced

Oct 25, 2023

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Image credit: FTTH Council Europe

FTTH industry leaders from across Europe have gathered in Madrid for the FTTH Conference 2023.

According to the organisers, the annual event has seen some 3,000 registered delegates walk through the doors to see the expert workshops, panel sessions and keynote speeches, as well as network and see some of the latest technology on offer on the exhibition floor.

This year's speaker line-up includes Roberto Viola, Director General of DG Connect at the European Commission; Matías González Martín, the newly-appointed Secretary General for Telecommunications at the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of Spain; Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU); Ulrik Vestegergaard Knudsen, Deputy Secretary-General at OECD, and Yuriy Matsyk, Head of the MDT's Directorate of Fixed Broadband at Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation.

During the first plenary session, which included welcome addresses from Eric Festraets, President of the FTTH Council Europe and Vincent Garnier, Director General of the FTTH Council Europe, this year's crop of FTTH Award winners were announced. The awards are designed to reward the outstanding contributions to the well-being of the industry and the acceleration of FTTH deployment in Europe.

Eric Festraets presented the four awards, and the winners are as follows:

FTTH Operator Award: Openreach

FTTH Individual Award: Mrs. Gerda Meppelink , Senior Expert Politics and Administration at Deutsche Glasfaser

Charles Kao Award: Heinz Pabisch, Director Section Group Gigabit Fiber Access at CMG-AE

Champion of Diversity Award: Fiberhost, a Polish open access operator

Festraets said: "Nowadays, it is widely recognised that the future relies on FTTH. There is still much work to do, however, before everyone can enjoy the undisputed superiority of fibre connectivity: bringing the networks to those regions that are not yet covered and ensuring that fibre is actually chosen by end subscribers should be the top priorities for the industry in 2023. Our objective at the FTTH Council Europe is to help all stakeholders accomplish these goals and find actionable solutions to address the challenges ahead for them. I am confident that the FTTH Conference will be able to deliver on this."

Added Garnier: "With this year's edition of the event being held in Spain, a mature market in terms of FTTH deployment, we take the opportunity to reflect on the lessons we can learn from the successful fibre rollout seen in this country and, more generally, on the next steps our industry needs to undertake once the network deployment is nearly completed. Stimulating the adoption of fibre and fibre-enabled services is definitely on top of this list, and we delve into this theme by reflecting on the most effective strategies to accelerate its take-up, both from a business and a regulatory perspective."