Rala’s strategic planning system will give these projects much more detail and quality in their proposals, because the analytical tools have been developed over the course of 15 years in Sweden.
Sweden is one of the most advanced countries in Europe for fibre to the home (FTTH). The FTTH Council Europe announced recently that Sweden will have 20 per cent of households connected by 2014, achieving fibre maturity. At present the UK is not even on the scale at less than 1%.
Tobias Ahl, CEO of Rala, said there had been a real upsurge in the number of UK projects reaching the planning phase and in need of experienced support.
“In Sweden, we have helped in the design and implementation of over 50 community network projects, as well as being a key supplier to Skanova, the network builder and manager to the incumbent TeliaSonera,” said Ahl.
“More than 50 per cent of costs of network rollout are for putting ducts into the ground. Over time we have developed the technology and skills to enable exceptional accuracy at the planning stage. The result for the UK projects will be much reduced risk of failure, due to incorrect financial planning,” he added.
Rala estimates that between 30 and 40 community projects are at a stage of development right now where detailed and accurate plans will pay off, both in securing funds and saving money over the duration of the network installation.
The leader of the first community project comments, “We have worked with Rala's help and expertise to create a strong and detailed proposal for funding that has received excellent initial feedback and we look forward to continuing with this professional support.”
Rala’s experienced project leaders will work together with the community projects using advanced planning tools to optimise the design process. They have experience with everything from planning for individual housing areas to entire municipalities. Geography, urban planning, business plans and ambitions are taken into account with a safe and economically viable expansion being the result.