Can the sewers deliver?

H2O’s announcement last week that it will be running fibre cable through sewers in Dundee, Northampton and Bournemouth has certainly received plenty of coverage, generating considerable journalistic interest and consumer comment. The idea of running cable through the sewers has long been discussed in the UK, and is an idea utilised elsewhere in the world.

It is unlikely, however, that the use of sewers will be a panacea for deployment of fibre, and next generation access (NGA) more generally, throughout the UK. In many areas of the country it will not be appropriate, or possible, to use the sewer infrastructure. H2O’s fibrecity concept combines fibre in the sewers with WiMax technology to deliver NGA to existing households, and will provide a wireless WiFi connectivity in the cities themselves, alongside the FTTH deployment for new homes. Using the sewers will only be part of the solution as we move towards an NGA future in the UK.

NGA deployment, by whatever means, is considered by most to be a necessary evolution of broadband in the UK, for a variety of reasons. There is not enough evidence, however, to support investment by incumbent operators on a large scale. This may well lend itself to a patchwork of deployments and technologies across the UK, with a strong likelihood that some areas will receive NGA faster than others. It will be interesting to see whether this city model takes off, and what impact that has on other areas of the UK.

Also posted on www.itpro.co.uk