Vodafone Drops Fibre Network Hint

A major UK broadband provider is considering the move into fibre optic cable networks, ISPreview.co.uk reports.

At an industry conference in Brussels yesterday, director of public policy at Vodafone Richard Feasey said that the firm was "beginning to think about fibre".

While Vodafone is primarily known for operating mobile phone networks, it maintains a land-line broadband network in the UK - and is also the fifth largest broadband provider across Europe. This means that a move into fibre cable networks, which offer a much faster connection speed than traditional copper wire services, could have a profound effect on the broadband market as a whole.

Currently, there are almost no fibre networks up and running in the UK bar a BT trial network servicing homes in two locations in Kent. The main barrier to widespread installation of the technology is cost: it is estimated that the total bill for a national fibre network could run into the tens of billions.

In a speech to the conference, Mr Feasey said: "Fibre is the first time we all start again in technology deployment [although] the economics look very challenging and it is difficult to find a way to improve the economics."