The roll out of the National Broadband Plan to over 540,000 premises in rural Ireland is one of the largest fibre projects in the history of the Irish state, with deployment of high-speed broadband to every citizen and business in Ireland. The work is split across the whole of the Republic of Ireland, into 227 Deployment Areas, as defined by the existing exchanges belonging to eir and Enet. Actavo is the only contractor working on both survey and design, and build.
Scope of works
To construct, test and handover to NBI, 60,000 new Fibre to the Home broadband enabled premises over a programme of 2 years.
Services delivered to date
Phase 1: Enabling and civils works – installation of subduct, new duct, new chambers, new polls and hedge and tree trimming.
Phase 2: Cabling work – aerial and underground cable installation.
Phase 3: Splicing, testing and handover.
Key successes
Mobilisation during Covid-19 restrictions.
Solutions to challenges
Experience: Actavo’s experienced team has delivered projects of similar scale and complexity and understands the challenges of building in remote rural environments:
- Spread out across the country in highly rural areas, the team uses remote communications methods such as Microsoft Teams and a bespoke workflow management app, ArcGIS.
- Actavo has depots and yards across the country to efficiently distribute materials to remote crews.
Benefits to client
Experience
Actavo has designed and engineered FTTP networks for numerous municipalities, Tier 1 carriers, and communities around the world. It is responsible for the build of large-scale fibre networks in Ireland, the UK, the US and nine Caribbean islands, including one of the largest FTTP networks
in the world.
Innovative technology
ArcGIS is an advanced workflow management system for control of design maps and documenting build work. As the client uses the same platform, the team can seamlessly communicate with them throughout the process. Actavo’s team of software engineers and GIS analysts developed a workflow management system that sits on the existing platform of ArcGIS.
This system allows the full team to execute the project, from analysing NBI designs, remotely assigning and issuing work packs to crews, the crews immediately receiving these packs (without having to travel to the office), plan and document work completed and measures.
The commercial and management team are then able to review, approve and bill all completed work in an efficient manner and on a large scale. The system has also been developed to document and monitor site Health & Safety paperwork and all Quality Control requirements for the project.
Value for money
Actavo’s unique ability to provide an end-to-end service from survey and design to construction and in-home capability sets it apart from peers and provides the client with a fully integrated solution.
Stakeholder engagement
Actavo’s experience in building networks across Ireland for over 30 years means it understands the concerns of communities impacted by the roll out of the NBP. In response, Actavo rolled out a community engagement training module as part of its induction programme to align with the client’s Good Neighbour Policy.
SHEQ
All works are overseen and audited by Actavo’s experienced SHEQ team to target zero harm and zero incidents. All activities are underpinned by the company’s ISO 45001, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001-accredited Integrated Management System.
Actavo prepared bespoke plans, including a Construction Environmental Management Plan, Health and Safety Management Plan, and Waste Management Plan. These are supplemented by a suite of Standard Operating Procedures and Method Statements, against which the company will be audited.
Quality
The NBI build works have a dedicated Project Quality Team that consists of a Project Quality Manager and experienced Field Quality Advisors, who ensure that all required standards are met. The Project Quality Team is supported by the Group Quality Team who ensure that not only the client requirements are met but also compliance with Actavo’s ISO 9001 accreditation.
Actavo prepared bespoke quality plans and a suite of inspection and test plans specifically for this project. These documents are the cornerstones of the Quality Management System for the project and will be used as the benchmark while auditing.