Everyones looking for a way to get the Internet closer to consumers and businesses. But the “last mile” presents some formidable obstacles. Now we hear that two companies have teamed up to build an innovative, albeit unpleasant, way of delivering bandwidth: via the sewer.
CityNet Telecommunications and CableRunner N.A. have partnered to build a last-mile fiber-optic network using the city of Vienna, Austrias existing, er, underground infrastructure.
While Vienna becomes CityNets first European venture, CableRunner has implemented its in-sewer fiber-optic network deployment technology in Paris and Berlin.
CityNet claims to revolutionize the broadband world by building the first high-speed, metro-area, all-optical networks that connect directly into buildings. A little further digging on the CityNet Web site yields the fact that Albuquerque, N.M., Omaha, Neb., and Indianapolis have had their plumbing augmented by the companys products and services.
Just dont call us when the rats (and who knows what else) start nibbling on the optic cables.