WHICH TECHNOLOGY?
Current technologies are:
The higher up the list the more desirable the technology in terms of providing the highest broadband speed and greatest flexibility for accommodating future upgrades. Most community broadband projects are based around wireless solutions as they can be established at relatively low cost, reasonably quickly and with limited disruption. Wireless will not be appropriate for all situations. Cable networks are dependent on major investment from commercial operators.
Community broadband solutions look at the needs of a community rather than any individual user. A common model is to link individual premises into a community hub and to provide a fast connection (backhaul) from the hub to the internet network. There is no blue print solution for communities looking to improve broadband. Every instance is different – many factors impact on choosing the best way forward, including existing infrastructure, topography, layout of the community and its compactness or spread and tree cover.
The cost will also be dependent on location, access to other infrastructure, the number of premises served and the level of service provided. As a rule of thumb fibre to the premises is likely to be significantly the most expensive, followed by fibre to the cabinet, long range wireless and, finally, satellite.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY
It is suggested that communities begin by investigating the possibility of providing a fibre to the home or cabinet model of broadband delivery as this will provide the best solution in terms of speed and sbility to cope with future demands. You will need to check whether a fibre service is likely to be provided commercially in the near future. It is, however, likely to be the most expensive solution.
How some others that have done it successfully
Cybermoor in Cumbria laid a fibre connection from its offices to two schools, connecting some 20 business/residential premises en route. Cybermoor has calculated a national average cost of laying fibre of £90 to £125 a metre but has achieved its target of £10 to £20 a metre.
For more information go to: http://www.slideshare.net/daniel.heery/fibrecamp-at-next-gen-09
Rutland Telecomm provided high speed broadband to Lyddington through a fibre to the cabinet solution. A new street cabinet was installed in the village, meaning that the only copper wire used for broadband was between the new cabinet and individual premises. Broadband speeds rose from around 0.5Mbps to 25Mbps for those connected to the new cabinet. Rutland Telecomm estimates such a single cabinet solution would cost between £25,000 and £50,000.
For more information go to: http://www.relay-rutlandtelecom.co.uk//FAQ/rural-national.html
Should the cost of providing a fibre based solution be prohibitive, even after the community has looked at how it can work to reduce cost, then wireless remains a more cost effective way of improving broadband. Implementing this method would be vulnerable to better technologies being provided commercially at a later date so careful consideration of the initial investment required and period of payback will be necessary.
Backhaul
No matter what technology is adopted for local (generally referred to as "last-mile") access, there is still a need to connect to the Internet “backbone” – where the broadband supply comes from at some point. This connection is known as the backhaul. The key to improving broadband is the connection to the backhaul. In urban areas this connection is usually at the telephone exchange, linked to consumers over their copper telephone wire. This solution is not always possible in rural areas.
For more information about backhaul from one of the case studies go to: http://www.tegola.org.uk/wiki/index.php/Technology_Brief
There are two general ways of connecting to the backhaul – through cable or by using wireless.
