Coming soon – a national database designed to make broadband more reliable

It would be fair to describe the UK’s broadband infrastructure as brittle.

In one respect, it’s extremely strong – data can be instantly rerouted if a primary path is blocked or busy, and consumer broadband connections tend to work seamlessly.

Yet there’s also an inherent fragility in the system.

We’ve previously written about how anything from crashed vans to fishing nets has caused broadband outages for local communities.

Indeed, accidental damage to underground cables (as in the Shetland fishing story cited above) is a particular risk.

It’s with this in mind that a national map of underground cables is being developed, in an attempt to make broadband more reliable.

But how will this platform work? What does it consist of? And why would a map of subterranean sewage pipes and electricity cables help to make broadband more reliable?

Assets and liabilities

A surprising number of underground pipes and cables lurk beneath our homes and streets.

There are water and sewage pipes, gas ands electricity supplies, telecom cables and local authority infrastructure.

Every year, four million holes are dug across the UK (many to access these pipes), yet their locations are often guesstimated and may actually be somewhere else.

The slightest misjudgement of location could lead to accidental asset strikes, while a lack of joined-up communications means the same road may be dug up in succession by different agencies.

The cost of infrastructure damage alone is estimated at £2.4 billion each year, and it’s hard to put a cost on the delays caused by traffic management around these works.

In an attempt to address these issues, a National Underground Asset Register has been in development since 2018, creating a digital map of all known underground infrastructure.

A minimum viable product has been in testing for some time, but it’s recently been announced that a beta version will be publicly available next spring.

A rather unattractive but highly functional interface uses Ordnance Survey mapping data to advise asset owners, contractors and surveyors about pipe locations.

The UK Government report that over 600 companies and councils will have their entire underground assets logged on the system.

The public beta will be extended to a fully operational national rollout by the end of next year across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

(As is so often the case, Scotland has its own system – the snappily titled Scottish Community Apparatus Data Vault – which does a broadly similar job.)

What does this have to do with my broadband ?

In a word, everything.

Other than 4G mobile dongles or satellite broadband, the broadband entering your home comes from underground cables.

These might be part of a proprietary network from a standalone ISP like Virgin Media, or part of the vast Openreach network.

Cables are often retrofitted into existing streets, and prior knowledge of existing cabling would make future installations smoother and less likely to cause knock-on effects.

There’s less risk of a utility worker inadvertently drilling or cutting through a broadband cable, thereby knocking out a local pavement exchange and the domestic connections it serves.

If ISPs determine there’s a fault across their network, access to the NUAR ought to help pinpoint the location and possible causes (such as a burst water main), expediting repairs.

It presently takes an average of six days for workers to get detailed information on subterranean cables – NUAR will make such data instantly accessible online.

These factors should ensure your home broadband connection operates more smoothly and reliably in future – and it won’t cost consumers a penny.