H2O Networks, based in Merseyside, are soon to install a fibre network into the sewers of either Bournemouth, Dundee or Northampton. The choice is up to the local councils apparently in who gets their paperwork ready first. The first “fibrecity” project will be announced in April, and will take approximately 18 months to complete. So we can expect the city to be live hopefully sometime in 2010 - and the speeds? A minimum of 100Mbit/s!

Using the sewers is nothing new - hundreds of miles of pre-installed pipes deep under the ground have always looked like the easiest way to provide homes with the next generation of connectivity. The only thing that crosses my mind is what happens if a sewer pipe breaks and takes the fibre with it? Legally, the sewer pipe is the responsibility of the people “up-stream” from the break (if it’s private) so that means everyone the sewer serves has to get it fixed jointly. If people disagree it means no internet. It’s good however to see some changes for the better and a positive drive to increase bandwodth in the UK. And this soon after parliament recently voiced their concerns over connectivity compared to the rest of Europe. [SHOW ME]