Up to two million businesses and homes inremote rural areas could get high-speed
broadbandif trials of a 50Mbps broadband
service in two Cornish towns proves its technical and commercial
viability.
Vtesse
Networks and Virgin
Media will start the trial in winter.
Vtesse CEO Aidan Paul said the first trial would test whether
it was technically possible to use VDSL2 cable TV technology to
deliver superfast
broadband to remote rural areas. If that proves itself, a
commercial trial would begin.
The service will deliver Virgin Media's range of next-generation
broadband and digital TV services to communities at least 3.5km
from the nearest street cabinet, he said.
The two towns are
Higher Pill in
Saltash, and
Hatt, a
community to the north west of the town. Aidan Paul said more
than 400 buildings in total would be hooked up, giving around 1,000
people broadband access.
The firms would use VDSL2 on fibre to the cabinet (FTTC)
services supplied and managed by Vtesse. Extra support would come
from the Babcock-led NGN Kernow consortium of large firms that have
invested in Cornwall.
Virgin
Media executive director for broadband Jon James said, "This is
an important project for Virgin Media and demonstrates our ambition
to extend our next generation services to areas outside our
traditional cable TV footprint.
"As well as placing two rural communities at the vanguard of the
digital revolution, the trials will provide much needed
understanding of the technical and economic viability of delivering
next generation access to areas that have traditionally thought to
be commercially problematic," said Jon James.
Vtesse's Paul said if the trials worked out and there was a
supportive regulatory policy, it could be feasible to provide
50Mbps to two million homes and small businesses that currently
have little or no chance of getting high speed services under
present network roll-out plans.
BT plans to upgrade 40% of its national network to a similar
fibre to the cabinet, VDSL2+ service by 2012. But the investment
aims at densely populated areas where the return will be
highest.
Map: Higher Pill
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Map: Hatt
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