What is fibre to the node?

Fibre to the Node (FTTN) is a term used to refer to part of the way broadband is delivered to the users.*

It involves the installation of optical fibres to a cabinet (or node) which services a neighbourhood, with the existing copper wire technology bridging the final distance to the user.

What this means is that from, say, your home, there are copper wires which are linked to a cabinet a street or two away.  Your neighbours’ homes are also linked to this cabinet.

From this collection of links, the cabinet (along with numerous other cabinets from surrounding locations) is then linked, via optical fibre, to an exchange and it’s from this exchange that broadband access is possible.

* FTTN is used in urban areas.  Due to the greater distance between users in regional areas, FTTN is often replaced by wireless technologies.