From The Register…

Ofcom will today announce an investigation into whether the roll-out of next generation broadband can be accelerated by using existing utilities infrastructure, such as the trenches that play host to the water network.

The idea of reusing existing holes in the ground, to reduce the £15bn projected cost of building a national fibre network from scratch, has been mooted throughout the glacial next generation broadband debate.

Ofcom is now looking seriously at infrastructure sharing, however, after its French counterpart found it more plausible than first thought. New regulations across the Channel mean France Telecom is now set to lay fibre in the same ducts as its competitors.

The communications regulator’s chief executive Ed Richards will tell the Institution of Engineering and Technology today: “We will also be asking whether there is scope to secure commercially viable access for fibre deployment through the primary infrastructure networks of other utilities such as water and energy…

Tony Hirst saw this post and reminded me of this!