UK Rural Affairs Committee Calls for More Effort to Improve Broadband

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has today published its latest report into the Government’s (DEFRA) performance, which among other things warns that the on-going “absence of effective internet and mobile connectivity” is hampering economic growth in some rural areas.

At present the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme aims to make fixed line superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services available to 95% of the United Kingdom by 2017/18, although in recent Parliamentary evidence sessions both BT and BDUK have also hinted that it may actually achieve 96% or possibly a little more.

On top of that there are plans to introduce a new legally-binding 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (here) and most recently a short-term Satellite subsidy was also introduced to help cater for the old 2Mbps Universal Service Commitment (USC), although that’s perhaps more of a short-term fix (here).

Furthermore there’s been some talk of a vaguely defined Broadband Investment Fund to help support alternative network providers (here and here), especially in rural areas. Never the less some of the plans for tackling the final 5% (it might more accurate to say the final 3-4%) of coverage are certainly in need of fleshing out and the Rural Affairs Committee seems to agree.

At this point it’s worth remembering that some areas will deliver more than 95% coverage, while others may offer less. For example, the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland currently only aims to deliver 84% and as the local Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, expressed: “It is not right that the very areas that have the most to gain from broadband, are going to be amongst the last to be seeing improvements.”

Neil Parish, Committee Chair and MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said:

“Businesses everywhere need fast broadband, but a lack of effective internet and mobile phone connectivity is hampering economic growth in some rural parts of the country.

Defra must champion the needs of rural communities and businesses more vigorously. Any new Universal Service Obligation must deliver affordable connections at sufficient speeds to all areas of the country.”

The report calls on the Government to support a “timely and efficient roll-out of fast broadband to all communities” so that rural areas are not left to “languish in the broadband slow-lane” and there’s a clear call to “aim for 100% coverage“, although there’s also a caveat to this with the words “as near as is practically possible for all communities.”

The committee further recommends that the Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs should “communicate strongly” the need for rural areas to take a “central place in broadband and mobile telephony coverage plans“, particularly in regards to the proposed 10Mbps USO. It adds that “any new [USO] must in practice deliver affordable connections at sufficient speeds to all areas of the country.”

Otherwise the report doesn’t really say anything fundamentally new. In the meantime the Government intends to consult upon the USO during early 2016 and we hope to hear something more on their plans for tackling the final 3-5% in due course, most likely once the current state aid shenanigans have been resolved (here).