Fibrelink goes into sewers. Ltd. - Network News - Fibrelink Scotland - Brief Article

Fiber Optics Weekly Update, Feb 20, 2004

A pioneering initiative to deliver broadband technology through Scotland's sewer system has been unveiled by optical fiber specialists Fibrelink (Scotland) Ltd. Via a strategic partnership with Scottish Water, Fibrelink will conduct a pilot project at the new Europarc at Rosyth in Fife to use Scotland's existing network of sewers to install high-speed broadband cable technology.

The pilot will be a test-bed for a possible rollout across Scotland with the first cables expected to be laid in February 2004. Scottish Water will lease the sewer network with Fibrelink contracting with telecom providers to deliver the broadband connection.

The Rosyth scheme will see the first UK use of Fibrelink's innovative Sewer Cable System (SCS) which has been developed in partnership with the Swiss company Brugg. The cable, which has a maximum diameter of 22mm and a tensile breaking strain of over 10 tonnes, has been used in Europe for several years and has the capacity to offer substantial bandwidth which is more than sufficient to meet the requirements of all the existing businesses in the Rosyth Europarc. The project has been in development with Scottish Water for more than 15 months with Fibrelink having already invested in excess of [pounds sterling]200,000 in the concept.