Fibrecity Holdings
 | |
| Company type | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | Leeds, West Yorkshire, England (2008) |
| Headquarters | Newton Le Willows, Merseyside, England |
Key people | Unknown |
| Revenue | Unknown |
| Unknown | |
Number of employees | Unknown |
| Parent | H2O Networks |
| Website | [1] |
Fibrecity was announced as a new fibre infrastructure for high speed communications implemented in the UK (and promised in other countries) by the i3 Group. It was said to provide connection speeds of 100 Mbit/s to homes, SME's and educational facilities on the network.
The network uses 'Fibre to the home' (FTTH) technology.
The company originally stated that the Fibrecity network was going to be deployed through the wastewater infrastructure using patented technology. In reality, however, this was neither practical nor cost effective as a volume market product and to reach each home or business the majority of the network has to be installed in the pavement where Fibrecity use a mechanical micro trenching system, such as is already in use by utilities such as cable networks.
The service was promised to deliver next generation Internet services including IPTV, VOD (Video on Demand), enhanced social networking and online gaming, and seamless home working with the ability to send and receive information instantly and video conferencing. Future possibilities include to telemedicine and remote care via video conferencing.
A Fibrecity connection was said to operate on a unique open access technology platform, so multiple service and content providers can offer their services simultaneously.
Services are not offered by Fibrecity, but by Third Party providers working with Fibrecity to offer their services via the network. No well known Internet Service Providers were ever committed to the Bournemouth project; the ISP Vispa Internet were at one time included in H2O Group announcements but withdrew (without explanation by either party) within a matter of days.
The infrastructure build started in Bournemouth in 2009 and this was to become become the UK's first Fibrecity. The next UK Fibrecity was going to be Dundee where work on installing the infrastructure started in summer 2010.
In late October 2010, however, the build ceased in both Bournemouth and Dundee with Fibrecity stating that this was due to company restructuring. It is more likely, however, that their backers are worried by the low take up of the service in the first area cabled up in Bournemouth. In February 2011, however, more sinister revelations were forthcoming:
The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has opened a misconduct investigation into Total Asset Finance (TAF) the principal funder of H2O Networks and Fibrecity which, during October 2010, was still part of the i3 Group. H2O apparently had loans totalling more than £91m from TAF. The Fibrecity projects controversially ground to a halt at around the same time as Belgian bank KBC, which is owed £133m by TAF, launched an investigation into the contracts held between TAF and H20.
In late January 2011 a management buyout was announced lead by American Greg Mesch of the H2O Networks part of the i3 group. This also included the Fibrecity sections of the business. It was initially hoped that the new management would kickstart both the Fibrecity (Bournemouth) and Fibrecity (Dundee) projects, but the financial situation and liabilities now make that seem increasingly unlikely.
Fibrecity was announced for:
- Bournemouth - The UK's first Fibrecity
- Dundee - Scotland's first Fibrecity
- Brisbane - Australia's first Fibrecity
i3 group ceased involvement with the Brisbane project in February 2011.[1]
As of 5 April 2011, the FibreCity website is unavailable, and the I3 Group website now says I3 is a worldwide technology licensing company rather than an infrastructure delivery and operation company as originally announced.
In mid April 2011 it emerged that service to customers in Bournemouth had been suspended since the end of February[2].