Broadband fibre via sewer mooted for Brisbane

Stephen Withers
Friday, 09 July 2010 16:55

IT Industry - Strategy

A successful trial of a system for running fibre optic cables through sewers has been completed in Brisbane, and a large-scale rollout may follow.

Brisbane-based I3 Asia Pacific has connected two Brisbane City Council premises with a fibre optic cable that runs through the sewer network. The two locations are 1.4km apart.

"It was a resounding success," I3 strategy director Andrew Lawson told iTWire. "It met all their requirements" and did not interfere with the sewers.

I3's parent company has already cabled Bournemouth and Dundee in the UK, and has completed projects in Abu Dhabi and South Africa, among others.

The idea of running cable though sewers fell out of favour in some circles after projects in Paris, London and New York failed. The problem there, Lawson said, was that the cable attachment to the roof lining failed. I3's technology uses a loose-laid cable at the bottom of the sewer. A specialised cable is used to withstand the hostile environment.

The approach also involves selecting sewers with an extremely low maintenance record, so there is little danger that the cable will lead to clogging, or that the cable would be damaged during cleaning (especially as high-pressure water jets are used these days in place of mechanical cleaning).

There's more to I3 than just running fibre through sewers - see page 2.