Call Flow Solutions Awarded Innovation Funding from DCMS for Hampshire Superfast Broadband Pilot

Eight shortlisted companies to explore expansion of broadband coverage in remote areas. The Government recently announced the successful bids for its £10m Innovation Fund. The money is to be used to explore ways to introduce superfast broadband to the most remote and hardest to reach places in the UK – commonly termed the ‘final 5%’. The eight shortlisted pilots will explore how to expand coverage in remote areas, using a variety of technologies and models. Call Flow are delighted to have been allocated funds to investigate the deployment of a hybrid technology solution to a rural area in Hampshire. We believe that no single technology can cost effectively address the challenges presented in the final 5%. As such, we deploy solutions that are a mixture of Fibre To The Premises (FTTP), Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).

Where possible we also use BT Openreach’s existing ducts and poles to install our new fibre optic cables in. Combining these technologies enables us to reach far more rural premises with superfast broadband, at a lower cost, than can traditionally be achieved. Culture Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Our nationwide rollout is progressing at a terrific rate and each week superfast speeds are becoming a reality for tens of thousands of homes and businesses in rural areas across the UK. We know how important this “fourth utility” has become which is why we are investing £10m in these pilots to explore how we can extend coverage beyond the 95% of the UK we are on track to deliver by 2017.”

Andy Conibere, MD of Call Flow said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to explore the extension of our proven solution outside of our Kent based network. We will be designing a solution that is capable of bringing superfast broadband to the pilot area in rural Hampshire. Being able to cost effectively bring superfast broadband to the most difficult areas is something we have been doing for over four years, and we look forward to demonstrating how this can be done in other counties.”