Autumn National Infrastructure Strategy to Boost UK Full Fibre Funding

The Government’s seemingly unachievable new goal of blanketing the UK in Gigabit capable “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband connectivity by the end of 2025 is expected to get a boost in the autumn, which is thanks to the long-awaited publication of its National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) that is widely said to include a major funding boost.

Apparently billions more in funding will be committed to the new NIS in order to support a “step change in infrastructure investment” right across the United Kingdom, which will see fresh funding for areas like transport (roads, rail etc.) and broadband in order to help meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s ambition.

Funding is of course one of the key components required to achieve the new 2025 target. Last year’s Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) report said that “additional funding” of around £3bn to £5bn would be needed to support commercial investment in the final c.10% of areas alone but that was for the original 2033 target. Radical change is needed to stand any chance of 2025 and that will be even more expensive.

As usual we’ll have to wait to get all these details until the autumn. The Government clearly intends to use this in order to try and cushion what seems increasingly likely to be a no-deal outcome to Brexit.

Sajid Javid MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:

“To maximise our growth potential as we leave the EU, I’m announcing today that I’ll publish a National Infrastructure Strategy in the Autumn. I will set out our plans for a step change in infrastructure investment right across the country. From the latest technology to the fastest trains, so that every corner of our great nation can thrive.”

The NIS is largely expected to be based on previous assessments made by the National Infrastructure Commission (here and here), which sadly doesn’t tell us much because so far the NIC has broadly supported the findings of the previous administration’s FTIR report and that was based around the old 2033 target. The NIC has not yet updated their proposals for achieving nationwide full fibre by 2025, which would make for a very interesting read.

Check out our article for more detail on some of the key challenges that Boris’s full fibre target is likely to face (here). One of the most important points to take away from that is the issue of how simply throwing a big sack of extra funding on to the table, at a time when competitive private investment is already doing much of the key work, can sometimes be counter-productive (market distortion) unless carefully balanced.

On the other hand you don’t get to a radical target like 2025 by being careful.