AfricaCom brought the latest in technological advancements and industry leaders introduced what arguably could be the next generation of devices and solutions intent on reshaping what we now believe to be the norm.
While attending the Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, we were introduced to the latest Huawei FTTR (Fiber to the Room) solution showcase. This came in the form of a smart home in Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap neighborhood. This smart home came equipped with over 100 IoT devices, which included smart lights, speakers, cameras, and cleaning robots all powered by Huawei’s FTTR F50 solution.
This interesting showcase demonstrated how modern homes can achieve consistent high-speed coverage using the latest innovative adhesive fiber cables which transformed today’s modern home into a digitally smart and cable-efficient space.
What is FTTRm (Fiber to the Room)
FTTR is the latest indoor fiber networking solution. Huawei’s latest fiber solution promises high-speed internet and battle-ready Wi-Fi coverage throughout a home.
It involves extending optical fibers directly to each room, which ensures consistent gigabit WiFi rates to eliminate dead spots.
What’s the point?
Huawei launched its optical intelligent home showcase on the sidelines of the Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town. The home solution comes in the form of the latest FTTR F50 and exemplifies how easily modern homes with complex layouts can achieve consistent coverage using the latest consumer-friendly adhesive fibre cables.
While walking through the house packed with the latest in tech all powered by the FTTR solution, we spotted a myriad of IoT devices such as speakers, cameras, sweeping robots, and kettles.
The FTTR solution promises speeds up to 1Gbps achieved across home WiFi networks to create a seamless digital experience for the smart home.
Think automated lighting, temperature controls, and smart cleaning robots all guaranteed to operate under a stable high bandwidth connection.
The FTTR solution guarantees stable high bandwidth connections enabling entertainment rooms to be fitted with 4K and higher resolution displays for movies or Virtual Reality gaming, without freezing or lost frames.
Next-generation cloud gaming is also enabled by this solution.
Your office can be transformed into a live stream-ready space thanks to the FTTR F50. This also means smart conference rooms are now a possibility meaning the solution enables support for 360 degree video and ultra wide monitors.
Huawei says: “This stunning intelligent showhouse can run up to 128 IoT devices on a single network at the same time. The enterprise alternative can have up to 300 simultaneous connections. Huawei’s innovative adhesive fibre cable, called the Self-bounding Transparent Fiber, seamlessly fits into the design aesthetic of any home and can easily be installed without the need for power tools and home remodelling.”
The showroom exhibition saw more than 150 guests attending to witness the fast, stable and seamless roaming Wi-Fi in every room.
Network operators, business leaders and media from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Eswatini, and Namibia engaged with this future-forward showcase, sparking conversations about the opportunities it could unlock in their home countries.
As Sub-Saharan Africa sees demand for better fibre to the room solutions, its clear that high speed connectivity is a requisite and the future home may just be smarter that anyone has ever imagined.