Digging fiber old-fashioned

As the time counts down for the political commitment to provide comprehensive, ultra-high-speed fiber optic broadband throughout the UK, attention is turning to technologies and systems that will greatly accelerate the speed of trenching, laying of fibers and re-digging. -Filled with elastic, long-life, highly durable, and recyclable materials.

If the government's goal is to be achieved, the current traditional method of laying about 100 meters of cables per trench per day must be replaced by a system that can reach 10 times or more. Some companies are now developing and experimenting with such systems, and hope that the results will be obvious this time next year.

Therefore, with the brief spasms of relative freedom that we Britons enjoyed during the exciting days of midsummer are now completely gone, we are faced with renewed and strengthened restrictions in the autumn and winter, and even the threat of a complete blockade. The country plunged into a faltering and economically destructive stagnation in the spring.

The government has become a laughing stock due to its mixed and contradictory information in the Covid-19 pandemic, calling its latest directive the "six rules." Immediately after the "Sign of the Four" and the "Famous Five", there will undoubtedly be the "Secret Seven", "When the Eight Bells Ring", and the re-release of Jimmy Jimi Hendrix's "If Six Is Nine" was played with teeth on Fender Stratocaster by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

No matter how absurd and exaggerated these ever-changing measures, one thing is certain: the pressure on British Telecom and Internet infrastructure will not be alleviated anytime soon. In the past 12 months, the UK has rapidly declined in the broadband speed ranking table, dropping 13 places.

We are now ranked 47th on the leaderboard, and of course we will not "bubble" until we suddenly rise to "bullet first". According to the latest research by Cable.co.uk, ISPs and CSPs in Eastern and Western Europe provide the fastest speeds, and the United Kingdom is also one; one of the countries with the slowest broadband access in continental Europe, with an average speed of 37.82Mbps.

Just a year ago, the British regulator Ofcom revealed that only 8% of all locations in the UK were connected to all-fiber broadband. Openreach’s goal is to connect 15 million locations to a state close to Nirvana in the next few years, but warns that this can only be done with the help of the government. In addition, the Prime Minister also promised that by 2025, the UK will fully and 100% use fiber-optic broadband. Achieving this goal will mean massive destruction of the country’s roads and sidewalks.

We continue to hear about the complexity of fiber optic technology, but in fact, we rarely hear the changes in trenching technology, materials and machines that are being tested. These changes will greatly help accelerate the speed of fiber optic deployment. Digging holes in the road is not sexy, but it is essential to the plan, so for a well-deserved change, here is the essence and absolute tenacity of broadband deployment Cinderella’s technological innovation and green certificate.

This morning, I had a long and informative chat with Harry Pearl, CEO of Roadmender Asphalt, based in Sheffield, Yorkshire, a material manufacturer and supplier whose slogan is "We Recycle the Road". He told me that currently, the trenches used to lay fiber optic cables are cut very wide and very slow to provide enough space for conventional asphalt to compact and re-lay. Therefore, although there are robots that can cut 1 km of trenches that are only 8 mm wide, most trenches are still cut 100 meters long and 150-400 mm wide every day with saws and excavators.

It is slow and destructive, requiring large amounts of material to be excavated and then replaced with new materials. It is also expensive and has a large carbon footprint-there are a lot of expensive and heavily polluted trucks transporting spoil, because today's trench cutting methods result in a "complete" rate of 5 tons per 100 meters of trench cutting. Round it to the nearest tens of millions, and you can start to see the scope of the problem and the need for new solutions.

Obviously it’s time for a change. Roadmender Asphalt has developed a flowable product made from recycled materials that does not require compaction and can be placed in a narrow groove, at least twice the current speed, in some cases , The speed can be increased three times or even four times. These flowable materials need to be excavated and replaced by 85% in the process, while also reducing labor costs, vehicle movement, waste and general interference to the public.

The new Roadmender solution is based on the characteristics of the British Standard "Polymer Modified Mastic Asphalt" (or PMMA for short). PMMA has excellent durability, higher flexibility at lower temperatures, and higher stability at higher temperatures, and it is very suitable for telecommunications companies and ISPs that lay fast broadband access cables because of its toughness , Waterproof, fast and easy to apply. More importantly, it contains 65% of recycled materials, and the final sealant has nine old tires recycled and combined per ton.

Sustainability is also an important part of the equation

Harry Pearl said that from large municipalities to smaller city and rural councils, as well as utilities and CSPs, DSPs and ISPs, are very interested in the new approach, and are very interested in experimenting with systems and minimizing bureaucratic obstacles to allow faster fiber optics. Support optical launch. More importantly, as Harry Pearl said, “it puts a big tick in the sustainability frame.” This is even more important for national and local authorities, as well as telecommunications companies and network providers.

Roadmender Asphalt has been testing and emphasizing new materials and systems for major national telecommunications companies and Internet companies in four major trials in northern England, all of which have expressed their satisfaction with the strong and fast results. The company has been committed to the latest PMMA specification issued by the government in March this year and will become law in March 2021. When the new regulations become mandatory within 6 months, they will be one step ahead in the market.

He added that the contractors who actually performed excavation, cable laying, and material recovery during the trial were initially a little skeptical about the new system, but once they had a few days to actually apply it, they were enthusiastic about its ease of use, speed, and effectiveness. . It is compared with the slow old traditional method and quickly converted to the method expected to become the new norm.

Harry Pearl said: "We are committed to developing and providing disruptive new technologies, products and materials that will help telecom companies and Internet service providers to achieve government goals and also help achieve sustainable development goals. And greatly reduce the interference to the public". 

The company has a history of providing different sustainable materials for the construction and maintenance of national, regional and local roads, airport infrastructure, ports, utilities and telecommunications industries. It has big plans for the future.

Harry Pearl said: "This huge national broadband project is underway. As the project progresses, plans are being made to deploy electric vehicle driving infrastructure throughout the UK. This is another huge long-term task." Roadmender Asphalt also very much hopes to be part of it.

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