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Minima have created a solution to bring down the cost of accessing super-fast broadband from fibre-optic networks by enabling consumers to connect up their own homes themselves.

The design, created in conjunction with a US West Coast multinational  internet company, is a unique way for people to connect themselves to 1 Gigabit-per-second internet access in a straightforward and intuitive way.

The big difference between current high speed internet (up to 40MB per second) and super-fast internet is in connecting the network to each home with fibre optic cable rather than using copper cable for the last street to home section as is often the case now.  The cost to network operators to connect fibre optic broadband from street laid cable to an individual home (known as Fiber to the home or FTTH) is in the region of £400 in the UK, or US$900 in the USA (2011).  The new Home Install Kit (HIK) design enables anyone with basic home improvement skills to establish a fibre link to their own home from a network access point. This offers a massive connection cost saving that can improve the economic viability of super-fast broadband rollout.

The HIK is a pack of all the parts needed to complete the task with the process deskilled so the job requires no specialist professional training or prior telecoms knowledge, just some home improvement aptitude.  A major asset in achieving this is via the unique step-by-step user guide with full colour illustrations developed in line with the themes of the system branding.  It included a pop-up planning tool to explain how to plan out the connection.  Care was taken in the out-of-box user workflow to transform a professional process into a consumer-friendly experience.

Innovation was applied to all stages of the project from the ideation of the initial concept through detailed development, supplier selection, brand strategy and implementation as well as managing the pilot production of 600 sets intended for market trials.