Fibre for media services delivery-promises kept and broken!

Summary form only given. Following the early trials of TV transmission using fibres in the seventies, the prospect of replacing twisted pairs by fibres to give universal two-way broadband services at consumer premises seemed imminent. Now, twenty years later, with the penetration of fibre transmission for national and intercontinental traffic far exceeding early expectations, the use of fibre for the delivery of media services right into the home has not fulfilled early promise. The article reviews some of the prospects for using fibres as means of routing TV signals within large broadcasting centres; directly to the home; and eventually for interactive services