All-Party Report Finds Poor Broadband Holding Back UK Rural Areas UPDATE

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Rural Powerhouse has today published a new report that warns “Rural Britain is not a museum” and is being “held back” by, among many other things, “slow” broadband connectivity and the need to urgently improve 4G and 5G mobile infrastructure.

According to Ofcom’s data (here), 30Mbps+ capable fixed broadband coverage currently reaches 96% of the UK or 28.1m premises, but this falls to 83% in rural areas. Meanwhile, the number of premises that cannot get a “decent broadband” (10Mbps+) service is 0.4% or 123,000 premises and geographic 4G (mobile broadband) coverage currently sits at between 79-86%.

As for the latest generation of “gigabit-capable” (FTTP, DOCSIS 3.1+ etc.) fixed broadband technologies, some 47% of UK premises could access this by September 2021, but that drops to just 25% when looking at rural areas (rising to 50% for urban areas).

The new cross-party – ‘LEVELLING UP THE RURAL ECONOMY: an inquiry into rural productivity‘ – report highlights this and calls for improvements. “The urgency of improving infrastructure – particularly the delivery of full fibre broadband, 4G and 5G, and electrical connectivity – cannot be understated,” said the report.

We should point out that the report, which took evidence from more than 50 industry bodies, charities, campaign groups, companies, academics and business leaders, also covers a multitude of other areas (e.g. “poor planning policy, a minimalist skills agenda and an overly complex tax regime“) – digital infrastructure is only a minor part of it.

Julian Sturdy, Co-Chair of the APPG on Rural Business and MP for York Outer, said:

“This report sets out a comprehensive growth plan, one that will create jobs, spread opportunity and strengthen small towns and villages across the country. We recognise the unique set of challenges that the Government is facing at the moment, but this makes the need to grow and strengthen the rural economy more, not less important.”

Sadly, the report itself doesn’t make any solid or detailed recommendations for broadband and mobile infrastructure, instead restricting itself to highlighting the already well-known weaknesses. The Government will no doubt highlight that their £5bn Project Gigabit rollout aims to ensure that a minimum of 85%+ of UK premises can access a gigabit-capable broadband ISP connection by the end of 2025, before possibly reaching “nationwide” (c.99%) coverage by the end of 2030 (here and here).

In addition, there’s the industry-led £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, which aims to extend geographic 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025 (it may also help the 5G rollout). The scheme essentially involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators.

However, we should highlight that the 95% SRN target is only when service is available from at least one operator, while the UK coverage forecast for SRN completion for all operators (i.e. geographic areas where you’ll be able to take 4G from all four operators) is just 84% by the end of 2025. Some gaps in rural areas will thus remain, and that’s assuming these targets are achieved on time.

The government are currently also in the process of implementing, or debating, various related planning and policy changes to help foster further improvements to broadband and mobile coverage. In addition, they’re also still exploring broadband solutions for connecting those in the most remote communities (final 0.3% or c.100,000 premises), which would be too expensive for even Project Gigabit to solve.

In short, there’s room for further improvement, but the wheels do turn oh so slowly.

UPDATE 29th April 2022 @ 3:54pm

A comment from rural ISP Gigaclear.

Gareth Williams, CEO of Gigaclear, said:

“We at Gigaclear welcome the findings of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Rural Powerhouse report. Making life better for rural businesses and supporting the rural powerhouse movement are principles our company is based upon. There is still a lot more work to be done to connect rural communities to fast, reliable broadband and reach at least 85% of the country by 2025 as per the revised Government’s target.

In our own 2021 Rural Business report we found that 85% of rural businesses define their current internet as ‘poor’. Indeed, one in five still have to work out of a café or other public space. Ultrafast internet connection was top of the list when asked what would have the biggest positive impact on post-pandemic businesses recovery. Despite having one of the most advanced and sophisticated economies in the world, there are still areas of the UK where internet speeds are unable to meet basic needs such as sending an email or opening a webpage. This is unacceptable and can no longer continue to go unnoticed.

The vast majority of the homes and businesses we connect to our ultrafast broadband are in some of the most rural and hard-to-reach areas in the country. This is something I am very proud of, playing our part in helping reduce this rural divide.”