Network Communications News (NCN) April 2017 | Page 14

ON THE CASE
Gigabit City status set to
supercharge connectivity
in Slough and Maidenhead
Businesses in Slough and Maidenhead are set to join their
ultra fast neighbours in Reading and Bracknell by gaining
Gigabit City status as the full-fibre revolution extends across
the Thames Valley.
CityFibre will soon begin work to transform the towns’
digital connectivity by providing an ultra fast, pure fibre
alternative to the towns’ legacy copper based networks,
allowing them to join the ranks of the world’s best digitally
connected locations.
CityFibre partner, Berkshire based IT and telecoms
specialist BtL Communications will work to connect
businesses across the network, providing them with access
to gigabit-speed internet services up to 100 times faster than
the UK’s average speeds.
The build will light up 38km of fibre network from Slough
Trading Estate to the town centre, and a further 10km across
Maidenhead. This significant investment is set to contribute
to Thames Valley Berkshire LEP’s prediction that boosting
ultrafast connectivity will generate an additional £1.2bn GVA
for the region over the next five to seven years.
Nick Gray, CityFibre’s city development manager, said,
‘It is vitally important that this growing region has the best
connectivity possible to enable it to remain competitive on a
global stage.’
Rob Lamden, BtL’s
managing director,
added,
‘We are now able to
offer local businesses
next generation internet
services at highly
competitive prices that
will turbocharge their
capabilities and give
them a huge head-start
over the competition.’
Rob Lamden of BtL (left)
with Nick Gray of CityFibre.
For further information
visit: www.cityfibre.com
Smart lighting in Canary Wharf
Xirrus has announced that it is providing the wireless
hardware and software infrastructure for an innovative,
visually impacting art installation called Bloom. Created by
Squidsoup, an international group of artists, researchers
and designers working with digital and interactive media
experiences, Bloom debuted in Kew Gardens, south-west
London, before transferring to Canary Whar f. It will make its
first international appearance in Mexico City this summer.
Bloom consists of around 1,000 individual Wi-Fi enabled
IoT lightbulbs that sway in the wind and spread a gentle
glow each evening. Every light contains a GPS chip,
accelerometer and speakers, which combine to create a
digital symphony of light and sound against the backdrop of
historic and iconic landscapes.
Jillian Mansolf, chief commercial officer at Xirrus, said,
‘Squidsoup needed a single Wi-Fi network with the capability
to reliably connect over a thousand IoT devices across an
open outdoor space, while also providing the consistency
needed to ensure a stunning display each evening.
‘The Bloom installation also needed a management
system that could centrally control each Wi-Fi device and
fully utilise the IoT technology present in each node. It’s
not often that you get to see such a stunning, artistic
visualisation of what connected, intelligent technology can
achieve, and we’re delighted to be involved in this project.’
For further information visit: www.xirrus.com