Alternative networks (Altnets) in the United Kingdom have been advised to halt road excavations and instead utilize abandoned gas and water pipes for fiber deployment to reduce costs. Alternative networks are other fiber providers to BT-backed infrastructure firm, OpenReach, which is still responsible for 80% of the 27.1 million premises passed.
In a report, AssetHUB, a platform for trading assets and infrastructure, stated that altnets could save millions in deployment costs by avoiding road digging. Instead, they should repurpose unused pipes for laying fiber.
“While the installation of fiber is crucial for improved connectivity for communities, the process of digging up roads leads to significant public inconvenience. It often causes issues such as traffic delays, noise pollution, and disruptions to daily life,” said AssetHUB CEO Rob Leenderts. He also noted that road excavation is expensive, and rerouting fiber around obstacles adds to the cost.
Infrastructure reuse is not a new idea. Openreach, BT’s infrastructure division, already allows other providers to share its ducts under the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) scheme, although with some limitations.
One challenge for altnets has been the restriction until last year on replacing copper drop wires with fiber; they were forced to rely on incumbent engineers. However, as reported by IS Preview, Openreach has recently granted Altnet limited permission to use their own engineers for these tasks. Additionally, Openreach introduced a drop wire replacement scheme to address issues caused by defective poles after an order had been placed.
In 2022, the UK government tested running fiber-optic cables through water mains in Yorkshire. Former Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez explained that digging up roads was a major barrier to broadband rollout, and leveraging existing water networks could speed up deployment. This network could also help detect and minimize water leaks. In recent years, the UK government has actively pushed for modern fiber networks nationwide, urging network operators to share infrastructure. Last year, CityFibre CEO Greg Mesch stated that altnets have driven the UK’s fiber expansion, challenging industry giants like Openreach and Virgin Media O2.
