Super-Fast Broadband Via the Sewer System : EcoWorldly:
As is so often the case, simple ideas seem to have manifest benefits and using sewer systems to lay fibre optic cables is a case in point. ((Charnley, Pem. “Super-Fast Broadband Via the Sewer System.” [Weblog EcoWorldly] 11 May 2008. Green Options Media Production. 12 May 2008 http://ecoworldly.com/2008/05/11/super-fast-broadband-via-the-sewer-system/.))
Pem Charnley, through EcoWorldly, describesthe coastal town of Bournemouth, UK, as the seaside resort where many go to die. Jack Dee quipps that shop windows are fitted with bi-focals.
Yet, it seems that these oldsters are kicking up their heels, on the Net. While most of the rest of the U.K. struggles with slower consumer Internet speeds, the citizens of Bournemouth are going full fibre, and their going to do it fast — not buy digging up swathes of countryside. They’re going to run it through the sewers.
According to SkyNews, more than 88,000 homes and businesses will be able to access the Internet at speeds up to 100Mbps under the scheme, considerably faster than the rates of other UK residents. H2O, a fibre firm, is funding the project at £30 million.
There are fears that the UK is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to broadband speeds, with three operators in France offering speeds of between 50 and 100Mbps. ((“Online Via Sewers: First Town Unveiled.” Sky News 8 May 2008 12 May 2008 http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1315371,00.html.))
It would be nice if the States would follow suit. Imagine the creative potential if we took half of every dollar spent on bombs and put it into fiber connections for the web. Oh well….guess i’ll click submit and wait ten seconds for this comment to post.
It has been once estimated that if only one day world’s military funds were saved it would help buy food for the starving for one year.