Virgin Media will use telegraph poles to extend the reach of FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) in a test in the UK village of Woolhampton, it said today.
Users participating in the test will get download speeds of up to 50Mbps, according to Virgin. The goal is to see if using telegraph poles is a viable option to extend the coverage of fibre, especially to rural areas. The operator wants different options as it expands its broadband network, a spokeswoman at Virgin Media said.
The problem with fibre in rural areas is that the cost of digging and laying cable can become prohibitive, and using telegraph poles is away to get around that, according to Annelise Berendt, next generation access analyst with market research company Point Topic.
The trial will start in March and is scheduled to run for approximately six months, according to Virgin Media. The operator has identified more than one million homes in the UK that could benefit from broadband deployment over telegraph poles, it said.
Currently, 15 European countries have reached fibre penetration of 1 percent or more, but the UK is not among them, according to the FTTH Council Europe. That France passed the 1 percent mark at the end of last year was a step in the right direction, and now Germany and the UK have to ramp up its efforts do the same as soon as possible, the Council said on February 24.
Contrary to other European governments and local authorities, the UK has so far taken a hands-off approach to financing the roll-out of fibre-based broadband, but that is now staring to change, Berendt said.
Currently, the five European countries with the highest penetration are Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia and Estonia.
FTTH Council Europe's numbers include FTTH, where the fibre cable is connected directly to the household, and FTTB (fibre-to-the-building), where the fiber cable is terminated inside a multitenant building and a LAN is used to connect the households.
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sirjohng said: Always tempting to complain about the grammar and not comment on the content hereI come from the era of telegraph poles but you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a raft of complaints about them spoiling the view If we are to be a maor force as a country in the future we MUST have very high speed broadband and like wind generators suffer the consequences or businesses will go elswhere - simples
PC Advisor said: Strong words Ian Also entirely incorrect Touch of human error now long-since corrected
Ian said: Because the numpties use american spellcheckers on their Macs
Catweazle said: Interesting variation of spelling of the word fibre in this story Not sure why the American spelling appears in a story exclusively about EuropeIll get my coat