SINGAPORE, April 8 -- A group of telecom, networking, infrastructure and communications companies have formed the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council Asia-Pacific to promote the extension of fiber access across the Asia-Pacific region, including Greater China, Korea, Japan, southeast Asia, India and Australia/New Zealand. Council members represent all areas of broadband industries, including telecommunications, computing, networking, system integration, engineering and content-provider companies, as well as traditional telecommunications service providers, utilities and municipalities. Shoichi Hanatani, president of the FTTH Council Asia-Pacific and senior director of Hitachi Communication Technologies, said, "History will show that the creation of the FTTH Council Asia-Pacific marked the transition of telecommunications in our region, from the constraint of copper loops to the enormous capacity and rich services that are only possible on optical fiber-to-the-home networks. We see the introduction of FTTH as a global phenomenon. Our new organization will maintain close working links with the existing FTTH Council organizations in North America and Europe." Colin Goodwin, broadband product manager and a founding member of the board at Ericsson, said, "FTTH access networks are a strategic infrastructure for a region, just as much as roads and airports. Our studies show that regions equipped with true broadband Internet access (speeds of 10s to 100s of Mb/s) enjoy improved business performance and economic advantage." The FTTH Council Asia-Pacific has already established teams of members who will engage governments, regulators, carriers and the telecommunications industry throughout the region, so that the drive towards FTTH is understood and accelerated. Organizations who wish to participate in these activities are encouraged to join the Council. For more information, visit: www.ftthcouncilap.org