Bournemouth to be UK's first 'Fibrecity'

7 May 2008

Bournemouth has been named as the UK's first city to roll-out superfast fibre broadband for domestic customers.

Communications firm H2O Networks is to use the city's sewer system to carry fibre cabling.

The first stage of the network, which will be the largest of its kind attempted in the UK, would provide 88,000 homes with internet connection speeds of 100Mbps (Megabits per second) or higher.

Where sewers are not an option, the Fibrecity project will see fibre laid along 20mm wide trenches; an activity which H2O says "is not a civil dig and will cause minimal disruption to the local area."

"This is just the start of bringing next generation connectivity to the UK," said Elfed Thomas, CEO of H2O Networks. "We will be announcing more towns and cities which will benefit from Fibrecity over the coming months, and plan to have a nationwide network deployed over the next few years."

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