COMMUNICA | Issue Four
Fibre teams have adopted
narrow trenching and
blown fibre solutions
across the UK.
CM: As the roll-out of fibre optic broadband
progresses we’re starting to hear more about
the sometimes negative impact of fixed penalty
notices (FPN) and related enforcement by local
authorities. What kind of experiences has JHG
had with FPNs and how would you improve the
situation?
CM: Are there any other practical advances in
civil engineering on the horizon that might help
to both speed up and/or bring down the cost of
rolling out new telecoms infrastructure?
MH: Although directional drilling is not new in the
UK, there are some exciting advances in technology
out there. It’s a tried and tested method and we
have worked to deliver a variety of directional drilling
schemes across the UK, varying from small streams,
to large rivers – like the River Orwell in Suffolk.
John Henry Group has its own directional drilling
equipment and we’ve recently been using it to drill
cables under main roads/rivers/rail crossings. Most
commonly, it is widely used in the USA where there
is more room to maneuverer the equipment.
Smaller drilling rigs are being developed and may
prove extremely cost effective and less disruptive in
installing micro ducts for FTTH. As with many other
innovations, we are exploring new ways to bring
this equipment over to the UK to trial with a view to
exploring how it can minimise disruption and provide
greater commercial impact for our clients.
MH: Most FPNs we receive are for late registration
of works and signing and guarding issues on the
site. There is a difference of interpretation of the
legislation depending on where we work in the UK.
This in turn can also dictate where an ISP may
choose to grow its network which can be a negative
impact for some communities.
We have sought to improve this with the introduction
of a digital tool called Geo-sight, which allows us
to remotely monitor works with a smartphone app.
Teams record all of their movements in picture
format with the app and then submit the images to
a special head office cloud, which can be accessed
by senior managers, HSEQ and other operations
staff. Alerts can also be set up to ensure that sites
are compliant, so that any issues can be corrected
immediately with advice from head office issued if
needed. Geo-sight allows us to prove that we have
left our site compliant, so that we can combat any
controversial FPNs, whilst introducing better working
practices through the process of recording our works
with remote/app technologies.
CM: The Government has recently moved
to revise the Electronic Communications
Code (ECC) so as to help simplify wayleave
agreements and make it cheaper/easier to build
new telecoms infrastructure on private land.
What are your thoughts on the changes?
MH: Wayleaves have always been a problem in
the UK. Sometimes we have constructed in the
highway to the private land boundary and have
had to wait months for the granting of a wayleave
in order to connect a tenant/business on behalf of
the ISP. Anything that improves this situation will be
welcome.
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