ANALYSIS & OPINION:FTTH IN EUROPE
THE CHALLENGE OF CONNECTING THE FIBRE NETWORK TAILS FROM THE TRACKSIDE RAIL BACKBONE IS RELATIVELY EASY TO OVERCOME
Te above scenario is not a hypothetical
one. Private rail infrastructure and train operator HS1 Ltd has already granted a concession for allowing a new dark fibre route along its 67-mile rail corridor, between London and Folkestone in the South of England. Tis will bring ultra-fast broadband in reach of local authorities and under-served business communities in adjacent towns and rural areas. So, can trackside rail’s potential finally be
realised for delivering full-fibre telecoms services nationwide? No doubt, at some time in the future,
Network Rail will put in place plans for commercialising areas of its arterial fibre network. Te question is, when and how? Aſter all, it has previously mooted privatising its
trackside fibre infrastructure and potentially wholesaling it to internet service providers. Ten again, with the right fibre infrastructure partners, Network Rail could start leveraging key parts of its infrastructure asset today.
Digital Britain Te catalyst here is the urgent need for delivering ‘Digital Britain’. Why not partner and license specialist fibre providers willing and able to shoulder the upfront risk and costs? Add to this a share of revenue from telecoms traffic over the trackside fibre network and there’s a compelling proposition on the table. Tere are further benefits. Dedicated
trackside fibre telecoms capacity on strategic rail routes plays well in the whole passenger connectivity puzzle. It allows train operators to more quickly bring to market, and monetise, full-fibre-enabled services on strategic inter- city and cross-country routes: services such as on-platorm real-time travel information and on-train 5G-enabled wifi ‘infotainment’. At the same time, asset light carriers, fixed and mobile operators can gain much needed access to additional backhaul for assuring high-speed data coverage. In summary, our ingenious and amazing
Victorian rail network could, once again, play a leading role in securing the country’s economic future. It has the potential for delivering essential full-fibre infrastructure as a core component of Digital Britain. With this, Network Rail has a major opportunity for serving the needs of UK government, enterprise, and consumers. n
Mark Weller is managing director of UK- based Nextgenaccess
picture. Tey could use access to infrastructure (ATI) legislation to their and Network Rail’s advantage. Te whole purpose of ATI is to allow fibre telecoms providers an alternative to road when deploying new fibre. Tis means rail, as well as canals and utility networks. Terefore, in principle, new trackside fibre
could be deployed relatively quickly and affordably, in the existing cabling ducts and troughs. Tis is almost always a more secure and maintenance-friendly approach compared to routing cable via overhead pylons and bridges. Furthermore, the challenge of connecting
the fibre network tails from the trackside rail backbone is relatively easy to overcome. Tis is where duct and pole access (DPA) / physical infrastructure access (PIA) code powers come into play. Licensed fibre infrastructure providers can use these to access OpenReach’s existing duct and pole infrastructure; quickly extending full fibre’s reach deep into rural areas. In the right hands, PIA is far more cost- and time-effective than civil road digs and without the usual disruption.
www.fibre-systems.com @fibresystemsmag
Diagram illustrating aspects of rail trackside full fibre benefits Issue 26 n Winter 2020 n FiBRE SYSTEMS 25
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