Energis, owner of the national electricity grid, is exploring the
use of new technology to create high bandwidth networks that could
deliver data services more cheaply than leased lines.
Last year the power company bought 20-year licences for the
28Ghz-40Ghz spectrum from the government for around £15m, shortly
before the £20bn 3G licences auction.
These high frequency licences were considered low value because of
the technical difficulties involved in offering viable data
services.
Energis is now reviewing new millimetre wave mesh technology from
Calynetworks, which may allow point-to-point connections at speeds
of up to 100mbs.
Alistair Henderson, head of technology applications at Energis
said: "We are evaluating the potential of IP meshed networks to
extend the reach of our metropolitan fibre and deliver cost
effective, reliable, broadband services."
Cees van der Stoep, vice-president of Calynetworks, said Energis'
network of electricity routing stations would be a perfect match
for the technology. "Energis has a big footprint and the
infrastructure to exploit this technology," he said. "We expect
this to offer a significant saving compared to T1 [leased line]
links."
Van der Stoep said first field trials of the technology were set to
begin in Sweden and Spain next year, and he predicted that services
could begin by 2003.
"This is not going to replace fibre, as in the end there will be
fibre everywhere," he said. "What we have is a technology that
reduces cost for end users and overlays these networks as they
expand." he added.
Although Energis is potentially the most likely implementer of
28Ghz services, both Corus and Telenor have purchased licences in
the UK.
Calynetwork is jointly funded by several venture capital companies,
including Nokia, Lucent and Siemens.