Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is now being marketed to more than 10 million North American homes, according to the latest report from RVA Market Research & Consulting, and FTTH networks pass nearly 12 million homes, or nearly 10 percent of all the homes in North America.

Nearly 3 million homes are connected to fiber, and 770,500 of those (or 26 percent) were added in the last six months, according to RVA.

Bell companies (mainly Verizon Communications) account for 2,079,000 FTTH subscribers (or 72 percent of the total), while a mix of 593 other providers collectively claim the other 833,500, RVA said. Non-Bell incumbents own 14 percent of all FTTH customers. CLECs own nearly 5 percent, municipalities own 4 percent, developers and integrators own less than 4 percent and cable companies own nearly 1 percent.

The most fiber-rich areas of the United States are those within the territory of Verizon or third-tier telcos, where a third of all households are located and 5.8 percent of them are connected to fiber. In areas served by AT&T, Qwest or tier-two telcos — where two-thirds of U.S. homes are found — only 0.6 percent of homes have fiber.

The takeup rate for FTTH services is climbing steadily from its low point of 18.4 percent in 2005 to 28.8 percent today, RVA said. But the takeup rate among non-Bell companies is much higher, hovering at around 52 percent for the past two years.

More than 8 million homes are now able to order TV service over fiber, a 36 percent jump in the last six months, RVA said, and more than 1.6 million homes receive video over fiber, 56 percent more than in September.

More than 17,000 homes are now able to order 100Mb/s Internet service, up from about 12,000 a year ago.

RVA’s data has drawn scrutiny in the past from other industry analysts who are skeptical of the numbers published in these regular reports. But Michael Render, RVA’s president, stands by his data.