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.
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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
Man, I wish they’d upgrade my sh**ty internet infrastructure.
Hey this is a good idea even though its in a sewer and rats could chew through the wire but we could just put metal caseings around the wires which wouldnt be very hard. and yeah most stuff from the internet comes from a sewer anyway =P
I’ve never been happier to have a ***** connection!
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Reality? I’m interested, how do you order Google TiSP?
Ironically, fiber optics cables are not wires per se, they conduct like via solid plastic fibers (optical waveguides) not copper pair as most of the older telecommunications is based on.
Not everything can be done or should be done wirelessly. There are frequencies and bandwidth restrictions for many different areas. As well as certain materials either reflect and distort or absorb these signals making it almost impossible in some areas to use wireless.
I am sure some of you are familiar with a dropped call on a cell phone. Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, and other newer signaling is similar in hot and cold spots (or cell phone providers call them “dead” spots).
Another thing about wireless communication, the standard Wi-Fi and Wi-Max configurations on a Wireless Access Point (WAP for short) is about 50 users before it really has problems. There are a couple of WAPs that can handle 64 users at a time but the people that are closer to the WAP get better service than the people further away, sometimes the people more than twice the distance from the WAP get dropped.
There is a lot of stuff that needs to be ironed out in the future for wireless usage and interfacing. I hope this clears up some of the misunderstandings of technology.
Our best best for long distance wireless connections (albeit slower speeds) currently is Wi-Max for Internet connections (WANs) and Wi-Fi for our wireless LANs if you were to go almost completely wireless.
I am formerly of that field in the electronics engineering side of things.