The ways in which broadband networks are being built is forever benefiting from new technologies to speed up construction output and, with the announcement by the Government that its aspiration is for providers to have reached half of the UK homes by 2025, there is a serious task at hand to be able to deliver the network as quickly as possible. An important part of the delivery of any project is planning and design- broadband networks are no different. If this phase of the project is wrong, commercial models and investment cases can fall to pieces if the measurements don’ t add up. The race is also on to get infrastructure into the ground, either to beat the competition to the end user, or to reduce costs by building quicker. Advancements in technology now mean that the way networks are surveyed and designed mean that near-unimaginable, powerful technologies are being used to survey the area ahead of any build process. Whereas in a previous life, a survey would need to be conducted on foot, with measuring equipment, advancements to near-space age technology means that surveys can be effectively completed in a matter of minutes. A casing point of how things have changed, even in the last couple of years, is the introduction of digital survey equipment. John Henry Group has purchased a roof-mounted Trimble camera which allows the group survey teams to drive down the road and digitally capture and measure the entire street scene in just a few moments. The camera is mounted onto a Ford KUGA sports utility vehicle( SUV). Mounted on the roof-rack, the camera, which is manufactured by American specialist photographic technology provider Trimble, takes multiple pictures at once, similar to a Google‘ street view’ camera. Readers may be familiar with Google Earth and
“ An important part of any project is the planning and design, broadband networks are no different”