Celebrate Fibre Today!

To honor the birthday of Charles Kao, who pioneered the use and development of fiber optics in telecommunications, FTTH Councils around the world will be celebrating the first annual Gimme Fibre Day on November 4, 2013.

The celebration will showcase how fiber optics have positively impacted communities around the world and what policymakers can do to accelerate its deployment and adoption.

Sir Kao was jointly awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for "ground-breaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication”.

Read more on Sir Kao here.

"Thank you for so honouring Professor Kao on his birthday - he will be 80 years old this year", declared Mrs. Gwen Kao, Professor Charles Kao's wife. "Back in the early days, when he announced that optic fibre would change the world, I laughed at him and joked about a Nobel Prize! Decades later, we live in a high-tech world so full of creativity, where products improve so fast that items become obsolete overnight. We are finally able to fully appreciate the impact of his vision. He would be very touched if he understood the event, but he has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for the last 11 years.

On his behalf, I wish you a successful Gimme Fibre Day!"

Find below the Gimme Fibre Day activities programme for 4 November listed per organization and per country.

Click on a country flag to see the listed activities:

- If you are on  check the I want Fibre page.

- If you are on  use #gimmefibre

Online Live-Talk-Show on FTTH Open Access Models 4 November 2013, 3PM CET

Don't miss our Gimme Fibre Day Special Talk-Show!

On 4 November the FTTH Council Europe channel will feature a special live Gimme Fibre Day talk on FTTH Open Access Models in the Nordics at 15:00 CET.

Open Access on broadband and in particular on fibre networks is a very hot topic all over Europe. Sweden has a long tradition of open access FTTH networks. You can find all different models implemented: open access to empty ducts, to dark fibre or to bandwidth based on bitstream.

Join the talk show to get a deep insight in the different open access models, its specific advantages and challenges and learn how open access on FTTH works in practice.

Mikael Ek, Managing Director, The Swedish Urban Network Association, will be your host.

Guests will include
     - Jonsson Hafsteinn, Network Manager, Karlstads Stadsnät, Sweden
     - Per Norrthon, CEO, Stadsnät I Svealand, Sweden
     - Jörgen Svärdh, CEO, Utsikt Bredband AB, Sweden.
Check out the panellists' profiles here.

To join the talk show, go to tv.ftthcouncil.eu at 3PM on 4 November 2013.

Gimme Fibre Day!