Five years ago Computing’s "Broadband Britain" campaign recognised the value of ubiquitous always-on internet access and pushed for national availability.
Now the UK’s global competitors are forging ahead with “fibre to the home”.
The US already has 900,000 residential fibre customers, there are six million in Japan and 24,000 in the Slovak Republic. A 100Mbit/s service is available in parts of France, Germany and the Netherlands.
In comparison, the UK’s small-scale pilots look rather limp.
Competitiveness minister Stephen Timms is right that UK next-generation broadband needs attention, right that it is vital to economic competitiveness, and right that progress is needed in the short term to avoid the UK being left behind.
But the government can only do so much. Regulatory changes may make the massive capital investment more secure than the demand for next-generation content would imply. And aggregated public sector procurement was certainly a valuable contribution first time around.
But ultimately the push must come from the market.
UK broadband was slow to get off the ground because of the regulator’s insistence on local loop unbundling which gives rival operators access to BT’s exchanges rather than direct public infrastructure investment, breaking up the incumbent network operator or allowing it to exploit its natural monopoly. The result is now the most competitive market in the G7 and some of the lowest prices in Europe.
Investment in fibre to the home, estimated to be as much as £15bn, needs to be treated with similar care. Pushing the unbundling concept out to street cabinets rather than just local exchanges is one proposition that would help defray the costs. Making businesses aware of what next-generation access could do, thereby boosting demand, is another.
Other countries are pressing ahead. The UK has little time to catch up, but we do have a solid industry structure to build upon. And Timms’ proven understanding will make him a useful champion.
