A little less than two years after the joint Request for Proposal issued by BellSouth, SBC Communications and Verizon, which was supposed to launch a revolution in fiber to the premises, much of the hype has died down, and the uprising has simmered. Given the hindsight of 20 months course, things look very different.

The joint RFP looks like a mere milepost on the way to a new network architecture that will allow carriers to offer IP-based voice, high-speed data and video services. In the interim, all three carriers have selected vendors, and at least one has deployed its first commercial systems. At the same time, the headlines have dissolved into the yeoman work of putting those networks in place.

Like previous major changes in the way carriers deliver service, this modification will take years to complete and will have unexpected highs and lows. Already in fact, the unity suggested by the joint RFP has dissolved as different carriers pick different vendors and put their own spin on FTTP. At the same time, independents are pushing into the market for entirely different reasons.

Telephony explores three elements of FTTP — the technology, RBOC deployments and the independent telcos.