Open FTTH networks and digital home-care services: Experiences from the Connected for Health Project

FTTH networks based on Open Access have been very common in Finland and especially Sweden in the past 10 – 15 years. In such networks, an operator-neutral network provider (NP) offers competing service providers access to the end users under non-discriminatory conditions. Among the advertised benefits of open FTTH networks is the development of an open market for high-quality digital societal services, such as e-health and e-social care. During the past six months, the EU Connected for Health project has run three pilots in Finland and Sweden, in which digital home-care services have been tested in live networks by municipalities and home-care givers. The pilots allowed to assess the socio-economic impact of fibre-based digital home-care services, in terms of costs, savings, and quality-of-life impact. During this talk we will present the final results of the study.