H2O to launch 100Mbps fibre broadband

Bournemouth, Northampton or Dundee to be lucky locations

23 January 2008 17:24 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Fibre firm H2O has announced it is to provide super-fast broadband via the sewers for either Bournemouth, Northampton or Dundee.

The service, that can reach speeds of up to 100Mbps, is delivered direct to consumer's home via a 4-inch box attached to the house.

The next-gen technology in home connectivity, rather than relying on the UK's creaking telephone network, H2O's boss told the BBC: "We are talking here about fibre speed; not that dreaded word broadband".

The sewer-based fibre does not require road digging to deliver, meaning that: "While deploying traditional fibre over a two-kilometre area would be six to 12 months in the planning. We can do it in four hours", H2O boast.

H20 is in talks with media partners and internet service providers about who will deliver the service direct to the customer, with the first partner to be announced in February.

The roll-out in the chosen lucky town will start in the autumn and - despite those speedy claims - will take 18 months.

BT recently announced a fibre-optic 100Mbps trial in Ebbsfleet, Kent.