Devon and Somerset Businesses Demand Say in Local Broadband Inquiry

The Federation of Small Business (FSB), Blackdown Hills Business Association (BHBA) and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) have vented frustration after their views were excluded from an inquiry into the recent collapse of a major broadband expansion deal between BT and the Devon and Somerset councils.

The related Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) project is currently working with BT to make “superfast” speeds of 24Mbps+ available to over 90% of local homes and businesses by the end of 2016 and it was hoped that the new contract could have pushed this to 95%, but in the end BT could not meet the strict timescale and the deal collapsed (here).

The local authority will now have to hunt for an alternative supplier (or a consortium of suppliers) in order to deliver the enhanced Internet connectivity to local premises (i.e. beyond the current 90% target) and as part of that process the council(s) agreed to hold a scrutiny committee event in September.

But it has been decided that the committee will only hear evidence from CDS, BT, councillors (including local MPs) and representatives from the central Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme, which has cause dismay among local firms who feel as if the decision to exclude residents and businesses from engaging with the inquiry “will not produce a fair examination” (here).

FSB, BHBA and CLA Letter to the Committee (Extract):

“The only information to be considered by the committee will therefore be provided by CDS, the CDS Board and possibly BT. We call on the DCC Place Scrutiny Committee to take evidence on this issue from concerned rural businesses and residents in the two counties affected by these decisions.”

In response Councillor Gordon Hook, vice chair of the scrutiny committee, has promised to “personally look sympathetically on the request” and voiced some encouraging words about putting “the public’s mind at ease by ensuring they are represented“. We’ll see how it goes.

In the meantime the local authorities face a challenge in finding an alternative supplier, not least because it is notoriously difficult and expensive to cater for those in the final 5%. One possible solution could be some sort of hybrid fixed line and fixed wireless service, but only time will tell and we suspect that some will be unhappy no matter what the outcome.