Sewers to Offer up to 100Meg Broadband

New developments in internet cabling look to be getting started in September, with the UK’s sewers providing the gateway to the world wide web. The Merseyside based company H20 Network’s ethos ‘using the Past to Connect the Future’ came up with their system F.O.C.U.S (Fibre Optical Cable Underground Sewer) in 2003, and have been in discussion with councils in Northampton, Bournemouth and Dundee to see which one of the towns will be first to receive the 100mbs service. This is super fast when compared to current fastest broadband providers Be Broadband who offer 24 meg, and O2 broadband who offer 20 meg. This is particularly exciting news for Venturian Media as our Northampton service currently runs at around 4 meg, meaning will the new H20 service we would be running at 25 times our standard rate!

This environmentally friendly cabling service can be installed 80 per cent faster than traditional wiring methods. This will save the Government over £1billion a year in roadworks, plus another £4billion will be saved by cutting down traffic disruptions. Another thing that won’t be disrupted is customers connections, where 2km of cable would usually take 12 months to be laid under roads, H20 can provide the same system in 4 hours.

Managing director Elfed Thomas came up with the idea of using sewer ducts for fibre optic cables some years ago.

“We have big infrastructure problems in the UK yet we have all this piping, so I thought why can’t we use the sewers? The alternative way of laying fibre involves digging up the roads. This can be extremely disruptive, expensive and slow, with it costing between £150 and £200 per metre to dig up a road. There is also the added advantage of the new cable lying 5metres below the ground, compared with 450mm for conventional cables. The H20 system eliminates the additional connection fee telecom companies charge when adding extra bandwidth. With our cable having no restriction on bandwidth, the customer is firmly in control and has the ability to upgrade at any time without the additional cost.”

With over 360,000 miles of sewerage pipes in the UK alone, this system can cut costs nationwide. It also opens up the possibility of more fibre optic usage in the more remote parts of the country. Although people will be claiming we’ve been ‘laying cable’ in the sewers for centuries, this vast network of underground piping could not only help the people of Britain, but also the environment.

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