NEWS
Sewers, however, provide an opportunity to lay fibre relatively cheaply as cables can simply be run along existing tunnelling.
A-Zs…
♦ Security from A-Z…
♦ Biometrics from A-Z…
♦ Broadband from A-Z…
♦ Wireless from A-Z…
♦ Green IT from A-Z…
The UK has 360,000 miles of sewers, according to H2O Networks, which is in discussions with various councils to hook up cities across the country with sewer-laid fibre.
The first city to get the subterranean fibre treatment will be either Bournemouth, Dundee or Northampton - a decision on which city will be first is due to be announced by the end of April - though all three will be hooked up by H20 Networks eventually, according to a company spokeswoman.
Work on connecting the first city is due to start in September, with the fibre deployment completed by March 2010.
The H2O Networks spokeswoman told silicon.com larger cities such as Manchester and London are too big to tackle "at this stage". The three contenders for the first Fibrecity claim are in the running because the company has already been working with their councils, she said, adding that other cities around the country "will happen".
Last year, H2O Networks won a contract to connect a student hall of residence at the University of Aberdeen via fibre laid down the drains.
Comments
There are 4 comments. Join the discussion
1. Harry Grove
You write: "Plans are afoot that could see something speeding out of the UK's sewers and into people's homes." i.e. Superfast Broadband.
And I reply: Once again there is discrimination against us rural dwellers.
Sewers ? .. .. Sewers ?
We don't have sewers; no drains at all, just septic tanks.
And, I can assure you, the traffic is all One Way !
2. anonymous
all this hype about high speed connections yet users living in remote areas are being neglected with no real plans to get them connected at a reasonable speed.
when will the millions of pounds be shared out a bit more to those that do not have, rather than those who already have a reasonable line speed.
3. misceng
100Mbps or 10Mbps it all depends on contention. The "up to" discussions elsewhere show how the consumer is shortchanged whichever technology is promoted. I left NTL cable which could have delivered some real speed but at high cost. I was on a slower service where 2Mbps was actually about 450kbps. Now I have a BT line with Sky claiming 16Mbps and delivering between 5 and 7Mbps - not perfect -but overall cost of the Sky service is less and the service has fewer failures.
4. Richard
Oh no! Spam will contaminate the sewage!
Sewage works will need upgrading.