An interesting report today on new housing estates putting in fibre to the home (FTTH). They appear to be using the buyer power (and competitive tendering) that comes from the release of many lots to drive the costs down (to $1800 per lot). This will enable speeds of up to 100Mbps; comparable to what is available generally in Korea and Japan. All this without Telstra and without the half way plan of fibre to the node (FTTN). It will be interesting to see whether demand for the service justifies the cost. If so, then local developments will be a way of bypassing Telstra (and others) and getting world-class broadband.