High speed broadband, the digitisation of media and convergence of telephony and IT have made the smart digital home a real possibility. But whether it's a universal media gateway, free video calls to the other side of the planet, unlimited music downloads or multiplayer online gaming that takes its occupants' fancy, the services delivered to the digital home will today most likely depend on 3 strands of copper.

These wires make the final ‘mile' connection between either the telephone exchange or, if there is the halfway house of fibre to the cabinet in the street (FTTC), from that cabinet to the house. Although many may have co-axial cable from a cable company, some a wireless or satellite link, and a lucky few optical fibre to the premises/home (FTTP/FTTH), the majority of homes in the UK still rely on legacy copper telephone wires for their digital connection. Not only that, but once inside the premises the telephony legacy often continues with badly wired extension sockets and a mish-mash of old connectors.

The fortunate few may have a recently built or renovated house that has telephone sockets and Ethernet data outlets distributed around the rooms. However anecdotal evidence suggests that most builders and the electricians who often provide both the external cabling and wire up telephone and data points are not really geared up to deal with the fidelity requirements of digital information delivery over those copper wires. IEE wiring regulations focus on the avoidance of electric shocks rather than bandwidth degradation, and although a telephone company makes the final connection, it will only really be concerned about the basic telephone service to the premises, not what else it is used for or what happens inside.

In the UK there has been a change in the point at which BT, via its last mile connection arm, Openreach, touches that domestic wiring. At one time a square white master socket inside the house was the last point of BT responsibility, and consumers could connect to the front of this, using extension wiring and a splitter/filter to separate broadband and phone. Any problems with internal wiring could be assessed and dismissed as such by BT by plugging a basic phone into the test socket in that master point and disconnecting all other internal wiring.

Recently connected or newly built houses may now have an external grey Openreach rectangular connection box outside their house, where the BT responsibility ends. This is then wired into the house (with three strands of a six strand cable) to a secondary internal ‘master' point, or if the house is smartly wired, to a patch panel for distribution, and perhaps separation into telephone and data.

The problem with this setup is that while BT's responsibility ends at the external box, there is no way to test to that point without using specialist equipment, i.e. the householder can't just plug in a basic phone to test their own incoming line, and any failure in broadband service is very difficult to check without a call to the ISP (or for some, by checking their website.....).

So when a fault occurs and a multimedia experience delivered over broadband—VoIP telephony, video, gaming, browsing, email, catchup TV—appears to stop working, who does the householder blame; BT, the telephony provider or the broadband internet service provider—who may all be different companies? Or is it perhaps the fault of the builder, electrician, service provider or media company? How can the consumer distinguish between a break in a wire, a noisy data signal, some network equipment, a transmission failure, an edge device or faulty wiring, short of employing a data communications specialist to assess their network?

When the service stops, somebody needs to detect why and fix it, otherwise consumers will stop paying. Often the former monopolistic incumbent carrier, for example, BT in the UK, will be the first port of call, but it may not be its fault, and it is unlikely to do the diagnosis for free. There are symbiotic relationships between those involved in providing the ‘plumbing' and those who supply the services. However consumers may end up blaming the wrong brand, so it is in the wider industry interest to take ownership of more of what happens at the customer premises. So far, few seem willing to step up to the mark.

Even with a home where Wi-Fi is used for all internal data connections, the router or the broadband modem it sits on the back of will most likely still rely on the incoming three strands of copper. Those planning to or currently offering value added services to digital consumers will need to bring more than just billing for content to their customer relationships as failures anywhere down the line might tarnish everybody's reputation. Knowledgeable and forensic diagnostic support will become even more necessary and the companies that can deliver it, be they ‘plumbers', service providers or builders will be the ones that build customer loyalty.