Broadband ISPs Respond to the 2019 UK General Election Result

Yesterday saw the Conservative party return to power after securing a large majority in the 2019 UK General Election. In response broadband ISPs have politely welcomed the “new” government but have called upon PM Boris Johnson to get on with the job of implementing his commitment to gigabit connectivity for all by 2025.

Admittedly the industry would have given a polite welcome no matter who was crowned the victor on Friday, although the stakes this time were arguably much higher after the Labour Party threatened to take a hammer blow to the entire sector by nationalising BT and offering free “full fibre” connectivity to all (here). The latter pledge was arguably more damaging than the nationalisation part (ISPs could never compete with free full fibre).

The policy, which threatened to put hundreds of ISPs out of business (affecting c.100,000 jobs) and stall the inflow of private investment (i.e. pausing the roll-out of full fibre until nationalisation was completed – likely to have taken several years), was not widely supported by the sector itself (here). Nevertheless a lot of ordinary people will have understandably viewed the offer of free full fibre more positively.

None of this is to say that Boris’ business-as-usual approach is ideal but clearly many broadband ISPs will perhaps quietly be breathing a sigh of relief (albeit bitter-sweet for some), even if this may not extend to other areas of proposed Government policy (e.g. Brexit and internet regulation) where plenty of major industry concerns exist. Indeed the sector’s viewpoint may have been very different had Labour adopted a less radical approach to broadband.

Nevertheless the industry’s reaction has been broadly to call on the Government to deliver on what they’ve promised (here). In short, this means investing £5bn (focused on helping those in the final 20% of hardest to reach premises) to ensure that “gigabit-capable broadband” (via FTTP, Cable / DOCSIS, 5G etc.) is able to reach every UK home by the end of 2025 (here) and that’s still a very difficult target to hit.

On top of that they’ve also promised to help extend geographic 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025, which forms part of a £1bn industry-led agreement that is being supported by £500m from the Government (here). However we should point out that they originally, at the 2017 election, promised to achieve this by the end of 2022. Oops.

UK ISP Association Statement (ISPA)

“ISPA congratulates Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his clear and decisive victory and looks forward to the greater political certainty this will mean for our members.

Broadband was an important policy issue during the election campaign as radical plans for nationalisation and free broadband were pitched against an ambitious plan to deliver nationwide gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, with £5bn of public funding to help do so. Throughout the election, ISPA made the case that the vast majority of broadband rollout is delivered and funded by the industry, with billions of commercial funds currently being invested in gigabit-capable broadband networks to improve speeds

ISPA calls on the Government to now grasp the opportunity to combine proposed government funding, and the significant commercial investment, with urgent regulatory reform to the sector to ensure the UK gets maximum benefit from these investments.”

Malcolm Corbett, INCA CEO, said:

“On behalf of our members INCA offers congratulations to the Prime Minister for his historic General Election victory. Our members welcome the clarity of the result and the greater certainty this brings. We look forward to working with the new ministerial team as INCA’s members continue to build the best possible digital infrastructure our country needs and deserves.”

Phillip Jansen, BT Group CEO, said:

“There are lots of things for the new government to get done, few more important to the UK than speeding up the delivery of full-fibre broadband. Our new Ministers can take some simple, immediate steps to cut through the red tape and help us build like the clappers. We’ve got 33,000 brilliant Openreach engineers ready to roll.”

Lloyd Felton, CEO of County Broadband, said:

“The re-elected Prime Minister has already made digital infrastructure a notable investment pledge in his victory speech following his campaign commitment for the rollout of gigabit broadband connectivity. We look forward to working with the digital minister in support of his promise to connect the entire UK, including rural and hard-to-reach areas, to future-ready networks.

County Broadband has big plans to connect thousands of rural communities to our Hyperfast future-ready networks in 2020 across the East of England, making the region a flagbearer for world class digital connectivity.”

End.