Success model
Swiss4net

FTTH, comprehensive coverage, OTO Ready-for-Service and point-to-point explained simply

Success model Swiss4net

FTTH, comprehensive coverage, OTO Ready-for-Service and point-to-point explained simply

Our fibre optic networks are based on state-of-the-art point-to-point FTTH technology. Every apartment and business premises on one of our fibre optic networks receives its own dedicated fibre optic line directly from the central office to the OTO outlet – for maximum performance, outstanding stability and the highest level of reliability.

The Swiss4net success model at a glance

Swiss4net’s fibre optic expansion follows a clear objective: every municipality connected under contract receives a high-performance, reliable and highly secure fibre optic network. This is based on the FTTH recommendations of the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), which include a point-to-point multi-fibre model with four optical fibres per household. However, Swiss4net deliberately goes significantly beyond the OFCOM recommendations by providing comprehensive OTO Ready-for-Service coverage throughout the fibre optic network, right up to apartments and businesses. This model provides the necessary capacity, ensures open access for all telecommunications providers and creates the basis for sustainable, fair and highly competitive competition.

Building on this, Swiss4net combines four unique success factors in its network expansion: comprehensive coverage, OTO Ready-for-Service, genuine FTTH expansion right into every apartment and business premises, and a point-to-point architecture with dedicated fibre optic connections. Together, these factors ensure that all apartments and businesses are fully connected and that the OTO outlet is immediately ready for use, providing direct access to the fibre optic network. At the same time, the network delivers consistently high stability and maximum reliability.

What is fibre optic?

A fibre optic cable consists of extremely thin strands of quartz glass, each as fine as a human hair. These fibres are surrounded by a glass cladding and a protective plastic coating. As high-performance optical waveguides, they transmit data using pulses of light rather than electricity, enabling extremely fast, secure and interference-free connections.

Learn more about our four success factors below

1. Comprehensive fibre optic expansion to every apartment and business premises

Comprehensive coverage ensures that every home and business within a municipality or city receives its own FTTH connection. Swiss4net therefore connects entire municipalities or cities without exception – regardless of location or demand.

This holistic approach creates a consistent, high-performance fibre optic network that provides the same high quality standard throughout. At the same time, comprehensive coverage ensures that every unit receives an OTO outlet and that the fibre optic connection can be used immediately – without additional construction work, delays or dependency on individual orders.

2. OTO Ready-for-Service: one OTO outlet per apartment and business premises

For a fibre optic connection to be ready for immediate use, every home and business needs its own OTO outlet (Optical Telecommunications Outlet). This optical termination point connects the fibre optic network directly to the end customer’s modem and can be clearly identified by its unique OTO ID.

Swiss4net does not install these OTO outlets retrospectively. Instead, they are fully installed during the construction phase and connected directly to the FTTH fibre optic network. As soon as the connection to the central office is active, end customers can use their connection immediately – without waiting times, additional installations or work on site.

End customers benefit from immediate activation and a free choice of provider. Telecommunications providers, in turn, benefit from transparent, reliable and efficient service activation processes thanks to the unique OTO identification.

Fibi, das grüne Glasfaser-Maskottchen, zeigt lächelnd den Daumen nach oben

3. FTTH, FTTB, FTTC and FTTS – a clear result in the performance comparison

Only a connection based entirely on fibre optic technology can deliver maximum performance. With FTTH, the fibre runs continuously from the central office directly into the home or business premises. By contrast, alternative technologies such as FTTB, FTTS or FTTC terminate in the building or in the street, meaning the final section still relies on copper or coaxial cable. This results in significant speed losses in download and especially upload, greater susceptibility to interference and noticeable limitations in stability. FTTH eliminates these performance bottlenecks completely because data is transmitted exclusively via fibre optic. This ensures maximum stability, maximum bandwidth and an infrastructure that can meet future requirements over the long term while providing a high level of reliability.

FTTH, FTTB, FTTC and FTTS at a glance

FTTH – Fibre to the Home (P2P)

With FTTH, the fibre optic line runs directly from the central office to the apartment or business premises. This type of connection provides maximum stability and currently enables transmission speeds of > 25 Gbit/s in both upload and download, as the entire connection consists of continuous fibre optic lines.

FTTH graphic: Swiss4net point-to-point fibre optic network with four fibres per household

FTTB – Fibre to the Building

FTTB refers to a type of connection in which the fibre optic line only runs as far as the building. From there, the connection to individual homes or businesses continues via existing copper cables, which significantly reduces performance. This type of expansion is therefore less expensive than FTTH, but clearly slower and less future-proof because the final copper section limits the connection.

FTTC – Fibre to the Curb

FTTC means that the fibre optic line only runs as far as the street cabinet. The final section into the building and the individual home is carried over copper lines, which significantly reduces performance. Although this type of connection is less expensive to deploy, it offers considerably lower speeds and is less future-proof because the long copper section limits the connection.

FTTS – Fibre to the Street

FTTS describes an expansion model in which the fibre optic line runs into the street or close to the building, for example to a street chamber or micro-node. From there, the final section into the home or business premises is bridged using existing copper lines.
This results in a noticeable loss of performance, particularly where the copper section is longer. Although this type of connection is less expensive to deploy than FTTH, it offers lower speeds and is less future-proof because the final section is not fibre optic.

4. Point-to-point outperforms point-to-multipoint in every respect

Two network architectures are generally used for FTTH expansion: point-to-point (P2P) or the inferior point-to-multipoint (P2MP) architecture. Today, the main transmission technologies used are PON (Passive Optical Network) or Gigabit Ethernet over P2P. While P2P provides each end customer with their own dedicated, continuous fibre optic line, P2MP divides the connection between several end customers using optical splitters. As a result, the technologies differ significantly in terms of performance, stability, flexibility and future-proofing. The following overview highlights the most important differences at a glance and makes direct comparison easier.

The key differences between FTTH-P2P and FTTH-P2MP at a glance

Connection

Flexibility & technology

Speed

Security & reliability

Future-proofing & scalability

P2P model
(point-to-point)

A dedicated fibre optic line runs continuously from the central office to the end customer.

High flexibility – providers can use their own technologies and network concepts.

Maximum symmetrical upload and download bandwidths – independent of other users.

Highly reliable – faults affect only one connection.

Highly future-proof – each dedicated fibre provides maximum upload and download capacity over the long term.

P2MP model
(point-to-multipoint)

One fibre optic line is split in a street chamber via an optical splitter and shared by up to 32 end customers.

Limited flexibility – providers must use the predefined PON structure.

Shared bandwidth – only a fraction of the fibre optic capacity reaches the end customer.

More susceptible to disruption – problems within the PON tree affect all end customers connected to the same splitter.

Less scalable – the shared fibre reaches its performance limits more quickly.

Connection

Flexibility & technology

Speed

Security & reliability

Future-proofing & scalability

P2P model
(point-to-point)

A dedicated fibre optic line runs continuously from the central office to the end customer.

High flexibility – providers can use their own technologies and network concepts.

Maximum symmetrical upload and download bandwidths – independent of other users.

Highly reliable – faults affect only one connection.

Highly future-proof – each dedicated fibre provides maximum upload and download capacity over the long term.

Connection

Flexibility & technology

Speed

Security & reliability

Future-proofing & scalability

P2MP model
(point-to-multipoint)

One fibre optic line is split in a street chamber via an optical splitter and shared by up to 32 end customers.

Limited flexibility – providers must use the predefined PON structure.

Shared bandwidth – only a fraction of the fibre optic capacity reaches the end customer.

More susceptible to disruption – problems within the PON tree affect all end customers connected to the same splitter.

Less scalable – the shared fibre reaches its performance limits more quickly.

Point-to-point (P2P)

With the point-to-point model (P2P), every apartment and business premises receives its own continuous fibre optic line running directly from the central office to the end customer. As this line is not shared with other connections, end customers benefit at all times from the full performance they pay for under their contract – stable, symmetrical and without bandwidth fluctuations. In addition, the network remains completely open at Layer 1, allowing providers to freely choose and independently develop their preferred transmission technology without having to take the requirements of other connections into account. P2P therefore offers maximum flexibility, outstanding future-proofing and a particularly robust network architecture that operates reliably even under high utilisation. For demanding digital applications – whether for businesses or private users – P2P provides a fibre optic infrastructure capable of delivering the best possible performance both today and over the long term.

Fibre optic compared with copper and coaxial networks

Fibre optic technology is technically far superior to copper and coaxial networks. While copper rapidly loses performance over distance and coaxial networks share their capacity between multiple households, fibre optic signals remain highly performant, secure, stable and virtually loss-free even over long distances.

Copper and coaxial networks, by contrast, transmit data electrically. This makes them more susceptible to electromagnetic interference, power surges and lightning. They also require more active network components and amplifiers, which consume electricity, require maintenance and create additional potential points of failure. Their performance can also be more dependent on environmental and weather conditions.

Another key difference lies in transmission performance: fibre optic enables truly symmetrical bandwidths with equally fast upload and download speeds. Copper and coaxial networks cannot provide the same level of symmetry, with upload speeds in particular remaining technically limited.

Fibre optic data transmission, by contrast, is based on light signals and requires less energy. Optical fibres are manufactured from natural raw materials such as sand and quartz. Fibre optic therefore provides the highest-performing, most stable, most secure and most sustainable long-term infrastructure for state-of-the-art digital applications, maintaining these advantages over long fibre distances.

Fibre optic

💡 Light transmission

⚡ Fast & symmetrical

🌱 Energy-efficient

🔒 Highly stable

🚀 Future-proof

Copper

⚡ Electrical signals

📉 Slow & asymmetrical

🐌 Slower upload & download

⚠ Interference-prone

🛑 Outdated technology

Coax

⚡ Electrical signals

📉 Slow & asymmetrical

🔌 Shared capacity

⚠ Less stable

🛑 Outdated technology

Technical differences in detail

Fibi, das grüne Glasfaser-Maskottchen, schaut lächelnd hervor

Fibre optic:

Fibre optic networks transmit data using light signals. This keeps signals stable and virtually loss-free even over long distances and makes them resistant to electromagnetic interference.

Copper:

Copper cables use electrical signals, which are attenuated even over relatively short distances and are more susceptible to interference from the surrounding environment.

Coaxial:

Coaxial cables also transmit data using electrical signals, but provide better shielding than copper cables. Nevertheless, the technology is still significantly more interference-prone than fibre optic and requires regular signal amplification, which also consumes electrical energy.

Fibre optic:

Fibre optic is resistant to electromagnetic interference, electrical equipment, weather and moisture. This ensures extremely stable and secure transmission, even over long distances.

Copper:

Copper cables are highly susceptible to interference, moisture and electrical disturbances. As a result, connection quality can fluctuate noticeably.

Coaxial:

Although coaxial cable is shielded, it remains susceptible to so-called ingress interference in the return path as well as fluctuations in network segment utilisation. The required amplifiers and filters are also sensitive to changing weather conditions.

Fibre optic:

Only a point-to-point fibre optic network, such as Swiss4net’s, offers virtually unlimited scalability and can support future technologies without the need to replace the infrastructure. Fibre optic networks are also designed for a very long service life.

Copper:

Copper has reached its physical limits. Higher data rates can only be achieved with considerable additional technical effort – and even then only to a limited extent.

Swisscom will gradually decommission its copper network by access network area. This process will take several years and continue into the next decade, the 2030s.

Coaxial:

Coaxial networks can continue to be upgraded, particularly for download speeds, but remain limited over the long term by their restricted upload capacity and physical characteristics (see comparison under “Bandwidth & speed”).

Fibre optic:

Only point-to-point fibre optic connections extending into every home and business unit provide maximum openness and flexibility. With Swiss4net’s P2P FTTH architecture, providers can freely choose their transmission technologies, offer symmetrical performance and deliver stable, secure and high-performance services.

Copper:

Copper is technology-dependent and offers very limited flexibility. Services are heavily restricted by the physical limitations of the line.

Coaxial:

Coaxial networks are limited by their network architecture and shared-medium concept. They offer limited flexibility and require significant investment for DOCSIS upgrades.

Fibre optic:

Fibre optic enables very high, fully symmetrical bandwidths, with upload and download speeds that are equally fast. Performance remains stable even over long distances, without significant drops or fluctuations caused by network utilisation, while also providing a high level of security.

The maximum possible speed over fibre optic cables is enormous. In theoretical and professional applications, speeds of several petabits per second are possible. For private households in Switzerland, > 25 Gbit/s in both upload and download is currently the standard range for the fastest end-customer subscriptions.

Technical limit: The physical capacity of fibre optic is enormous, at more than 100 Tbit/s (terabits per second). Today, the limitation is primarily determined by the transmission and reception technology used at either end of the fibre.

Copper:

Copper lines do not support symmetrical speeds from a technical perspective. Upload speeds in particular are heavily limited, while download performance decreases rapidly with distance. Technical limitations such as available frequency bands create a significant imbalance between upstream and downstream speeds.

Technical limit: Maximum download speeds over conventional copper lines decrease rapidly as line length increases. At around 50 metres, approximately 1 Gbit/s may still be possible; at 250 metres, performance often drops to around 200 Mbit/s.

Coaxial:

Coaxial networks offer higher download speeds than copper. However, upload capacity remains technically much more limited and clearly asymmetrical. In addition, the available capacity is shared between multiple households, which can lead to fluctuations in upload and download performance, particularly during peak usage periods, and can therefore significantly restrict end-user performance.

Technical limit: Maximum transmission rates are:
– DOCSIS 3.0: up to 1 Gbit/s download and 200 Mbit/s upload.
– DOCSIS 3.1: up to 10 Gbit/s download and 1 to 2 Gbit/s upload.
– DOCSIS 4.0: up to 10 Gbit/s download and 6 Gbit/s upload.

Fibre optic:

Thanks to light-based signal transmission, fibre optic delivers extremely low latency – ideal for real-time applications, streaming and gaming.

Copper:

Electrical signal transmission results in higher latency, particularly because amplifiers or signal conversions are often required.

Coaxial:

Coaxial networks also have significantly higher latency than fibre optic and are additionally affected by network segment utilisation and the required amplifiers.

Fibre optic:

Transmission using light requires significantly less energy and generates very little waste heat. Fibre optic cables are made from sand and quartz and are produced in a highly resource-efficient way.

Copper:

Copper mining has a significant environmental impact, and electrical signal transmission requires considerably more energy, particularly over longer distances.

Coaxial:

Coaxial networks also rely on copper-based signal transmission and therefore consume more energy than fibre optic networks. Additional energy is also required for amplifiers. Active transmission and the associated RF filtering technology involve considerable and costly maintenance and investment.