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UK Lifeguards Dig Their Own 100Mbps Fiber-Optic Link

Posted by timothy on from the yes-they-can dept.

MJackson writes "The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in Humber, a large tidal estuary situated on the east coast of Northern England, has just become one of the UK's most remote-rural locations to have a next generation 100Mbps Fibre Optic FTTH broadband link installed. The deployment is being sponsored by FibreStream and amazingly the groundworks were completed by the lifeboat crew literally digging their own fibre. We'd do the same on our road, but the government would probably object."

6 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. Good idea. by dov_0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What happened to social responsibility and volunteering? Most people want great service, but just expect someone else to do the work. In the current economic environment, lets hope to see more local projects like this.

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  2. Not lifeguards by miketheanimal · · Score: 5, Informative

    Lifeguards are hunky guys (and gals) in swimming costumes who save swimmers (or, rather, non-swimmers!) at beaches and swimming pools. The RNLI is the Royal National Lifeboat Institution: note "lifeboat".

    1. Re:Not lifeguards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      They take them out to sea at night, in force 10 gales and save trawlermen and merchant sailors from their sinking ships.

      Its not exactly "Baywatch" you know......

    2. Re:Not lifeguards by RichardJenkins · · Score: 5, Informative

      All sorts of maritime search and rescue work. If your boat breaks down or capsizes, or your stuck in a downed plane, the RNLI will be the ones you want to see. Lifeguards on the other hand work from the beach and are concerned with bathers who get into trouble, usually swimming out and dragging back to shore.

      Both involve lifesaving off the coast, but they're very different and shouldn't be confused. If you called a lifeboat crewman a lifeguard he'd smack you in the face.

  3. Off the edge of civilization by CaptainOfSpray · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This lifeboat station is a bit remote ( 53 34'34.34"N 0 6'39.69"E - take a look in Google Earth - it's quite a place). According to the station website it is 16 miles to the nearest shop, God knows how how far to a telephone exchange, so ADSL was never an option. Next, the RNLI is a charity supported entirely by money received from the public. They get nothing from the government, which is a Good Thing for the efficiency of the service; but does mean that there was no way to afford the horrendous install fee for 16 miles of cable.

    All the crews and their families live at the station - imagine that as a way of life.

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  4. To put the stroy in context.... by mrphoton · · Score: 5, Informative

    You must remember that our national life boar service (RNLI) is a CHARITY and receives NO government sponsorship whatsoever. They get all there cash by collecting in the streets, collecting tins in shops and charity events... They are a truly amazing charity and save hundreds of lives . All there members are highly motivated volunteers who have ordinary jobs but when called upon drop everything and go and save lives what ever the weather. So my point is that it is not so amazing that they dug there own fiber link, they do after all maintain all there own kit and are out to save as much cash as possible because they don't have that much of it in the first place. http://www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you