Fibre in the sewers might allude you to think that we’ve just finished flushing the toilet, but it is in fact referring to a Government scheme to install fibre optic internet via water mains.
Fibre in the sewers was initially tested in Bournemouth but was eventually abandoned in favour of traditional duct and pole access.
The UK Government has shown a keen interest to increase its gigabit roll-outs by using water piping systems as a conduit for distributing fibre around areas.
Why install fibre optic cables in water pipes?
The cost of tearing up and resurfacing roads and land is perhaps the biggest obstacle that telecommunication companies face when installing networks of fibre optic cables to deliver better broadband.
But, beneath our feet; there are a vast amount of pipes that reach almost every home and building situated across the nation.
A sum of around £4 million has been allocated to a three-year-long project that will investigate the challenges and schematics involved, both technically and legislatively since the work must ensure that drinking water standards are not impacted by the installation of fibre cables.
This is an opt-in project that will come to a conclusion by the year 2024, with the final year will analyse the data collected and will provide an insight into how the solutions will scale across Britain.
Anyone interested in taking part in the scheme will have until October 4th to submit their application.
We’re safe to assume that pretty much every home in the UK has access to a mains water supply, as a result, the option of installing fibre optic cables in an already constructed network of tubing and piping sounds much more ideal than tearing up wildlife and road constructions.
The questionable technical issues that this project proposes include enquiries into fibre’s ability to get past emergency stop valves. It can only be presumed that the fibre cables will break out via a water-tight seal before resuming their place in the piping network. A simple small excavation in each property should be enough to extract the fibre from the water mains into the connecting building.
Given the various complaints that emerge when new internet poles are being installed - and the discrepancies in relation to costs - might suggest that using the water mains is a middle ground in terms of installation processes and pricing.
If the trial becomes a resounding success, there is a chance that we could see a significant drop in the costs of delivering FTTP to the final percentage of UK properties where traditional methods are too expensive.
