Openreach Drone Brings FTTP Broadband Over Rural Scottish River

A team of Openreach (BT) engineers has once again shown how Aerial Drones can be used to help bring fibre optic (FTTP) broadband ISP cables to remote UK communities. In this case they were able to run the fibre over a 50 metre wide stretch of river in a remote rural part of Scotland.

The operator first began testing the use of drones for challenging fibre deployments at the end of last year (here), when they were used to connect the small rural village of Pontfadog in the rugged Ceiriog Valley (Wrexham, North Wales). Since then they’ve trained up 5 drone pilots (certified by the Civil Aviation Authority) and the latest homes to benefit from this are those in the Highlands (Scotland) community of Glenmazeran.

Openreach had already buried their armoured 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) cable long 10km of single-track road through the glen to the right of the River Findhorn, where most of the 37 scattered homes included in the first phase of the project are located. But sadly one remote property on the other side of the fast-flowing river was excluded.. until a drone was used.

Kevin Drain, Openreach’s Chief Engineer (North Scotland), said:

“Although Glenmazeran is only 20 miles from Inverness, the properties are very remote and scattered. We’ve had to contend with steep drops and bankings as we buried cable along the single-track road. But the biggest challenge was reaching one remote home, 400 metres away from the main route, where the fibre cable needed to span a 50-metre wide stretch of river.

In the past we’ve tried all sorts of ways to do this – like attaching cables to fishing lines, golf balls and even hammers, which frankly proved hit and miss.

This is the first time we’ve used a drone to drop fibre into place here in Scotland and as a delivery method it’s unbeatable. Drones will now become part of our toolkit to reach places where the terrain means traditional engineering is difficult or impossible.

We did need to practice our technique. It’s a bit different from connecting up a street in Inverness, that’s for sure!”

We should point out that the Glenmazeran project is a Community Fibre Partnership (CFP), which is being co-funded by residents (the community are using money from local windfarm operator Eneco) and Openreach. Residents are also helping to dig in the final lengths of cable which travel from the new fibre spine to their properties (we’re starting to see a lot more of this since the earlier trials).

The above can also be mixed with support from the Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Businesses can claim up to £3,000 and eligible residents can also benefit from a voucher worth £500 as part of a wider project.

The new network is now live and around two-thirds of the 37 homes can already order a service, while the rest are expected to follow later this month. We believe from the picture that they’re using the DJI Mavic Pro (costs around £800-£1000). The flyer weighs 750g and has a flight time of 27 minutes per battery, with a max payload of 1.5lbs, plus collision avoidance sensors to help dodge the heads of local engineers.