I think it’s fair to say that the ever increasing popularity of social networking Web sites and TV (video) over the Web are contributing heavily to our small island’s bandwidth problems.

Breath... And relax... A North West-based outfit called H2O Networks is hailing dark fibre as the solution. Dark fibre offers unlimited bandwidth connectivity yet surprisingly no carriers are willing to sell it.

Dark fibre is fibre optic cable that has been laid for use by telecoms networks, but which is not used. There are a number of reasons why fibre may remain dark: ill-judged over-investment in capacity (this was particularly bad during the dotcom boom); deliberate planning for future growth. My money’s on the former...

Deliberate building of excess capacity happens because of the difficulties involved in laying fibre optic cables: digging up the ground (or even worse, running cables through oceans) is very expensive (but more importantly I have to keep moving my Jeep!), so there is every reason to lay more than you need immediately, in order not to have to do it again in the near future. Dark fibre is sometimes sold, the buyers presumably having plans to make it ‘lit’.

H2O Networks is flying the flag for take up of dark fibre and is offering a unique local fibre service for £699 per month with no connection fee, offering virtual ownership of the fibre and a future-proofed network for at least the next ten years. And, regardless of your bandwidth requirements 100Mbps, 200Mbps or Gigabit, the price remains the same. Additional fibres will be charged at an incredible price of 0.25p.

Dark fibre is much overlooked, but is it a totally viable solution to solve the UK’s bandwidth needs? BT set the bandwidth tariff about 30 years ago and not only is it hugely expensive, it is also extremely restrictive. No-one could have predicted the current levels of demand for bandwidth, so does the future lie with dark fibre? H2O Networks uses a Fibre Optical Cable Underground Sewer System (FS) to deploy its cable via the UK’s sewer network. The company works with organisations to build bespoke networks while staying in line with its ethos of low cost leasing with no uplift charge on bandwidth.

The company says the low cost platform provided by FS can be implemented 80% faster than traditional methods and there is no need for the complex negotiations that come with getting the permission to dig up the roads and pavements. As existing networks become increasingly congested with cables of all types, it has become much more difficult for network companies to find new pathways.

The cost advantages of an H2O network mean that not only is it cheaper to install, but it offers a fixed term cost rather than bandwidth tariffs. The bandwidth is hugely scalable so should will cope with the evolution of technology and the capacity this will eat up for the foreseeable future. Apparently, every city and town has ready-made ducts that can be used without causing disruption. An additional advantage is that the cables lie at depths of up to 5m below the ground, compared with 450mm for conventional cables, making it far more secure.

I really do like the idea of no restriction on bandwidth and the fact that the customer is firmly in control with the ability to upgrade at any time.