By: MarkJ - 26 March, 2009 (7:56 AM) - Score: 3484 - Fixed Line Broadband, Video

i3 Group's (formerly H2O Networks) Fibrecity project has officially connected the first 50 homes in the UK south coast town of Bournemouth to its next generation up to 100Mbps fibre optic ( FTTH ) broadband network. The group is now known to be targeting a nationwide rollout figure of no less than 2,000 homes per week and more once additional fibre cities come on tap (e.g. Dundee).

Bournemouth is the first of 15 town and city-wide fibre networks being built across the UK by Fibrecity over the next 10 years. This true FTTH infrastructure sees two fibres installed to each property that connects to the Fibrecity network using underground sewers, which is cheaper than digging up the road to lay new cable.

One fibre enables homeowners to benefit from paid for services such as IPTV, telephony and super fast 100Mbps broadband connectivity. A separate 40Mbps fibre is dedicated to the council and will be used to deliver local services such as community TV and health services:


i3 hopes to use Bournemouth's initial 50 homes as a showcase for the capabilities of its Fibrecity infrastructure. Early adopters will benefit from the projects free connection and limited free service period, which will be withdrawn once engineers leave the area. The same promotion will also apply to initial adopters in i3's second fibre city of Dundee this summer.

Since its launch last year, the Fibrecity initiative has progressed well and its first two Fibrecities are on track to be completed by the end of 2010. The firm is also in final negotiations with a number of content providers and companies to offer next generation services including IPTV, which aims to deliver a complete range of channels including interactive gaming.

However it hasn't all been plain sailing, with the i3 Group recently calling on the government to review the issue of fibre taxation. It warned the government that such a tax was in danger of creating a digital divide by dis-incentivising investment in superfast connectivity (original news).