Why Fibre Optics?

Depending on your definition of "broadband," you can argue that many technologies are capable of providing it. Eventually, the choice of a technology comes down to the telecommunications needs and requirements of a community–not just today, but for many years into the future. Bandwidth needs to increase exponentially, and the "little broadband" of today will never suffice for tomorrow's business and quality of life demands.

From the standpoint of bandwidth alone, nothing can compare to fibre. In fact, the only thing limiting fibre’s capacity is scientists' ability to break the spectrum of light into finer detail. However, NanoFibre is not focused exclusively on broadband connectivity: the real goals of NanoFibre go far beyond connection speeds. Only fibre satisfies all the technical objectives of NanoFibre, namely:

  • Open access for multiple providers
    Any infrastructure that does not support multiple competing service providers over a single network is unacceptable. Open access and competition lie at the heart of the NanoFibre project.

  • Scalability
    The infrastructure MUST scale to support an ever increasing number of subscribers AND to deliver higher bandwidth to satisfy increased demand. The infrastructure must support delivery of 100 Mbps connections to nearly 10,000 homes and businesses, and must be scalable to potentially deliver 1Gbps and greater to these same premises and more within a few years.

  • Security 
    If businesses, educational institutions, medical facilities, law enforcement and other organizations with highly sensitive data are to use the network, there must be an extremely high level of inherent security in the system. While individual users are still responsible for data encryption and protection, the network itself must preclude theft of signal.

  • Carrier class 
    The network must provide world-class reliability and protection from downtime, interference, transmission fading and interruptions.

While numerous other technologies can accommodate some of these goals, the only one that satisfies them all is fibre optics. That, coupled with the fact that on a cost per Mbps basis fibre is the least expensive technology, makes fibre the obvious choice.

The NanoFibre network will provide a minimum 100 Mbps connection to every building. The 100 Mbps will be split among voice, video, and data services. Service providers will offer speeds between 10 to 50 Mbps for internet connections.