Super-Fast Broadband Via the Sewer System
Bournemouth, UK, is often mocked by many of the British for the average age of its citizens. In short, a seaside resort where many go to die. Jack Dee once quipped that the shop windows are all fitted with bi-focals to allow passers-by to ascertain what lies within.
But the citizens, it seems, are having the last laugh as it has been reported this week that the town is to be the first in the UK to make use of the sewer system in a whole new way.
Rather than rely on the rather un-environmentally friendly process of digging up swathes of countryside and road to lay cables, H2O Networks Ltd have been called in for the gig.
As is so often the case, simple ideas seem to have manifest benefits and using sewer systems to lay fibre optic cables is a case in point.
As already stated, there is no need to dig up roads.
Conventional cables are normally laid a mere 45 cm below ground. Utilising the sewer systems means that the cables lie a full 10 metres below ground, decreasing the likelihood of damage and increasing security in potentially dangerous situations.
And of course, with no digging needed, with the sewers already in place, getting the fibre optics laid can be achieved far more quickly.
So, as many Britons languish behind with slow internet access, Bournemouth is casually reinventing itself as a rather fast, happening town, and in the not-too-distant future, will enjoy internet speeds approaching 100Mbps.
The UK has 360,000 miles worth of sewers. As Elfed Thomas, CEO of H2O Networks says:
“This is just the start of bringing next generation connectivity to the UK.”
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Photo of Victorian sewer courtesy of Flickr
People forget that the water authorities need to dig up the sewers to replace them far ofter that you would think and with all these cables down there its going to be much harder to do street works as fast as possible and not risk snipping these fibre lines!
TISP is a reality! And google said I would have it last year. WTF!
I’ve seen a lot of roads torn up for sewer work, but it was always pipe less than a meter diameter, not the walk-around size shown here.
Around here, it’s easier to bury 130 km of cable than to get it the last 100 meters or so into individual homes.
Seems to me the laugh is on the corporations who don’t realize the potential of their assets in the ground.
Well, the rest of the country must be feeling sh**ty.
Orly?
Makes sense. Half of what I see on the internet looks like it came out of the sewer anyway.
1) Rats can chew through copper wire.
2) Rats live in sewers
A fitting place for 80% of the webs content!
There’s no better place than the sewer unfortunately all these wires will be useless when its all done wirelessly
This actually is a pretty good idea, I mean you limit the amount of resources and money invested by using architecture that’s already there. The only problem is that maintenance could be a bit more difficult, and the scope at which this reaches is limited to areas with proper sewer passages.