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A new meaning for FTTB
Oliver Ax, owner of Amsterdam’s first connected houseboat
If you thought FTTB meant fibre-to-the-building, then you’re right, but you’re also wrong. Yesterday I was in Amsterdam to get up close and personal with the city’s fibre-to-the-home project (more on that to follow), and along certain canalsides in Amsterdam it means fibre-to-the-boat. Yes, Glasvezelnet Amsterdam (GNA), the company that owns the CityNet infrastructure, has connected houseboats to the city’s high-speed fibre network, which it reckons — not surprisingly — is a world’s first.
A new kind of robust optical connector allows houseboats to physically connect to the network upon mooring, and disconnect when necessary. “I now have ultra-fast internet, TV and telephone connection through one single cable,” says Oliver Ax, owner of Amsterdam’s first connected houseboat (pictured).
80% of Amsterdam residents live in apartments, and since I didn’t see any houses when I was there, does that mean that 20% of them live on houseboats? With all those canals it’s certainly possible.
But that’s not the most weird and wacky FTTx I heard on my trip. That would have to be fibre-to-the-ice hotel.
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