Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Virgin Media Offers Google-Like Broadband Boost to Small Town (sans the PR hoopla)

In a small Welsh town called Crumlin, broadband consumers are about to become test subjects for an incredibly fast fiber network courtesy of Virgin Media. It's going to be free to consumers and serve as a beta, or proof-of-concept, for Virgin. Now, before you get too excited at this novel idea and wonderful display of philanthropy on Virgin's behalf, ask yourself: doesn't this sound vaguely familiar?

In February of this year, Google announced something similar: Google Fiber. The promise was about the same--unheard-of broadband speeds for a deserving community. The difference was this: nobody knew which community... yet. So, of course, the PR mileage that Google (intentionally or unintentionally) drew from this announcement was far-reaching.

But when Virgin Media announced their venture, it barely blipped the media's radar. Why? What's different? First of all, it's the 2nd time around. Copy cats never do as well as the original. However, I want to be careful to state something: I'm not so sure Virgin Media is copying anything.

Whereas Google's underlying premise of their venture was to bring broadband to more communities, Virgin really is testing some new technology. In the interest of deployment cost and speed, they have opted to route fiber on the above-ground utility poles instead of the traditional underground method.

Virgin hopes to discover whether the fiber can endure the exposure to elements and, when elements cause failure, if the long-term cost to maintain the above-ground route is justifiable in lieu of the upfront costs to install buried fiber. Both scenarios serve as proof of one simple fact: the last mile is the most costly. Virgin Media is using an above-ground method in order to avoid alleviate some of the costs associated with going the last mile--the local loop from cable to computer.

The fact remains, however, that the easiest and most cost-effective way to connect the last mile avoids cable and fiber altogether--regardless of which side of the turf you're talking about. A managed wireless local loop, such as Accel Networks provides, can take the same broadband--which no doubt reaches the area on the back of a terrestrial workhorse--and put it into any business in a matter of days.

So Virgin, Google, and the many others who dare to bring broadband to the masses: we love that you're connecting our community, but could there be a better way to connect each consumer?

Labels: Google Fiber, Local Loop, Virgin Media