Q6. Gigaclear recently added Fluidata’s Service Exchange Platform to its network, which in theory should give some homes and businesses (i.e. those covered by your fibre platform) access to a much larger selection of ISPs.
Can you tell us a little more about how this works from a customer’s perspective. For example, can somebody order Sky Broadband’s £10 a month unlimited ADSL2+ service or the same sort of product from TalkTalk and if so then how does that work over your fibre infrastructure?
ANSWER:
The partnership with Fluidata allows us to more easily bring additional ISP’s onto our network. Fluidata acts as a wholesale gateway for ISP’s to sell their services over carriers networks. For Gigaclear that means that we publish our products and services at wholesale prices (as other wholesale networks do) to these other ISP’s together with our actual and planned coverage areas. Customers of these ISP’s, when entering their post code can see what choices of services are available at their property.
The Fluidata partnership allows this process to happen transparently so that the customer need not know who the actual infrastructure provider is, they just know there is a choice of services, fibre and copper based, and what they will cost. As Fluidata expand their ISP relationships and we expand our footprint, we expect more ISPs to offer service using our network infrastructure.
Q7. The government was recently forced by EU competition concerns to scrap the broadband infrastructure aspect of its £150m Urban Broadband Fund for 22 cities around the UK. Instead this has been replaced by a voucher scheme that helps businesses connect to superfast broadband by covering their installation costs. Do you think this is the best use for that money?
ANSWER:
If you accept the argument that funds from general taxation should be distributed to enable businesses to get access to better broadband, then Vouchers are a sensible method to use in areas where competitive infrastructure providers already operate.
Q8. Finally, reports last year suggested that Gigaclear had held discussions with 150 rural communities about expanding the reach of your fibre optic network into their respective areas. What’s the current situation and how far do you see Gigaclear expanding its fibre network in the future, especially given the growing pressure from BT and BDUK funding?
ANSWER:
Our pipeline of communities showing interest in our service is constantly growing, we have some 400 now requesting our presence. As and when the county plans evolve we will see some of those communities not require our services, and we expect to see more approaching us when they become aware of what, if any upgrade they are to see and when. Many, but not all of the communities we are engaged with are outside the BDUK intervention areas, we expect to have 30 networks in operation by the end of next year.
It is important to note that communities still have a choice – they don’t have to take the county/BDUK upgrade plan if they don’t think it will make sufficient impact to the community or its businesses, perhaps due to a lack of cabinets or their location being between rather than within the communities they serve. Gigaclear and other altnets will happily work with communities and business parks where there is quantifiable demand for better broadband. When Gigaclear builds a network using its own funds, the county is able to then remove that area from their BDUK funded intervention plan and reallocate the subsidy elsewhere in the county. This then becomes a win for the community or business park and a win for the county.
End.
Thanks to Joe for taking the time out to help with our interview.
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