CBI Joins Calls for Infrastructure Bank to Fuel 1Gbps Broadband

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has today echoed existing calls for the UK Government to setup a new “Infrastructure Bank” to help deliver on their planned expansion of “gigabit-capable” and “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband networks, as well as to support roads, railways and housing.

The Spring 2020 Budget included around £640bn worth of major infrastructure investment pledges and £5bn of that is due to go toward their aim of ensuring that “every home” can access a “gigabit-capable” broadband ISP connection by the end of 2025 (here). We now have a good idea of what that gigabit programme will look like (here), but we also know that the Government only promises to “go as far as we possibly can by 2025” (here).

At the same time the country, like so many others around the world, is currently reeling from the massive economic impact being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, although such crisis’s tend to only encourage Government’s to spend big on infrastructure (i.e. as way of fostering future growth and supporting established industries).

However, infrastructure investment shouldn’t all come from public funding and there’s a desire to encourage more private investment too. At present the European Investment Bank (EIB) provides one existing avenue for this but, depending upon the outcome of the Brexit trade negotiations, we may soon benefit from a domestic UK replacement.

The CBI’s new report thus outlines the proposed bank’s role of focusing on crowding in private finance by reducing risks, promoting market stability, and increasing investor confidence. Other recommendations include giving additional powers to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) – offering them greater independence and authority to hold government to account on infrastructure delivery.

Matthew Fell, Chief UK Policy Director at the CBI, said:

“Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19, businesses welcomed the government’s commitment to deliver an ‘infrastructure revolution’ and interpreted it as a clear sign that the government was serious about delivering on its levelling-up agenda.

While the UK government’s commitment to delivering infrastructure remains undeterred, the country’s fiscal position has substantially worsened. In this context, the private sector now has an even more important role to play in helping to bridge the funding gap needed to deliver the government’s vision for UK infrastructure.

To support its ambitious infrastructure agenda and provide better connectivity, at good value for taxpayers, the government must reinvigorate the UK infrastructure market tackling concerns about regulation and a lack of clarity about investment opportunities.

The government must commit to an approach that gives confidence to investors and capitalises on the attributes of businesses and public sector establishing itself once again as a world class destination for investment.”

If any of this sounds familiar then that’s because the NIC proposed the same idea earlier this year (here), although they’ve been somewhat light on the detail. On the broadband front we’ve also already seen plenty of existing projects and programmes that have brought public and private investment together (e.g. BDUK and the Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund). In other words, the creation of a new infrastructure bank wouldn’t by itself be a miracle fix, but it might certainly help.

Arguably the ability to reach a target like 2025 for gigabit broadband is no longer just a matter of funding, but rather more a problem of practical delivery vs unrealistic time-scales for significant infrastructure work. Even when you throw in variable 5G and fixed wireless technologies, getting to 2025 on time is extremely difficult (we highly doubt 100% coverage of 1Gbps+ is viable by 2025 and roll-out may well continue past that date for a few years, albeit at a reduced pace of deployment).

The incentive for all this is however quite clear. The CBI notes that for every £1 spent on construction activity, some £2.92 is created in wider economic benefit. Similarly, data suggests that when 1% of GDP is invested in infrastructure, economic output increases by 0.4% that same year, and grows by 1.5% within four years.