Bournemouth's pipes put on fibre diet

The race to become the UK's first 'Fibrecity' has been won by the seaside resort of Bournemouth, better known for ice-cream and old people than high speed Internet.

H2O Networks, a company that lays fibre optic cabling in the sewers, said work will begin to hook up every house and business in Bournemouth in the next six months -- enabling speeds of up to 100Mbps. The project will cost around £30m and will be the largest of its kind in Europe, according to H2O.

Uses of the network will include real-time traffic monitoring via CCTV, improved IT in schools and videoconferencing to help social workers carry out their jobs more effectively. The network may also give a boost to flexible working by enabling more people to work from home.

Bournemouth Borough Council is no stranger to a high fibre diet -- H2O laid sewer fibre as a back-up network for the council last year.

The town was one of three in the running to be first to get H2O's full fibre treatment, along with Dundee and Northampton.