In the UK, to work on planning and design activities, a Swedish specialist in fast, economic and sustainable installations of fibre networks, Rala, has been brought in by two community network projects. In Sweden, over the course of 15 years, the analytical tools have been developed hence Rala’s strategic planning system will give these projects much more detail and quality in their proposals.

In Europe, Sweden is one of the most advanced countries or fibre to the home (FTTH). Recently, the FTTH Council Europe announced that by 2014, Sweden will achieve fibre maturity and will have 20 per cent of households connected. The UK at present is not even on the scale at less than 1 percent.

Tobias Ahl, CEO of Rala, mentioned that there had been a real upsurge in the number of UK projects reaching the planning phase and in need of experienced support. 

“In Sweden, we have helped in the design and implementation of over 50 community network projects, as well as being a key supplier to Skanova, the network builder and manager to the incumbent TeliaSonera (News - Alert),” said Ahl. 

He added that for putting ducts into the ground, more than 50 per cent of costs of network rollout. To enable exceptional accuracy at the planning stage, they have developed the technology and skills. The result for the UK projects will be much reduced risk of failure, due to incorrect financial planning.

Over the duration of the network installation, both in securing funds and saving money, Rala estimates that between 30 and 40 community projects are at a stage of development right now where detailed and accurate plans will pay off.

To optimize the design process using advanced planning tools, Rala’s experienced project leaders will work together with the community projects. From planning for individual housing areas to entire municipalities, they have experience with everything.