{"id":1741,"date":"2012-12-03T02:05:11","date_gmt":"2012-12-03T02:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=1741"},"modified":"2012-12-03T06:49:40","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T06:49:40","slug":"ask4-coo-says-yorkshire-digital-region-network-must-be-credible-bt-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2012\/12\/ask4-coo-says-yorkshire-digital-region-network-must-be-credible-bt-alternative.html","title":{"rendered":"ASK4 COO Says Yorkshire Digital Region Network Needs Credible BT Alternative"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chief Operating Officer of Sheffield-based UK ISP ASK4<\/a>, Ross Bray<\/strong>, has told ISPreview.co.uk that the new owner of Yorkshire\u2019s financially damaged Digital Region<\/a> broadband network must turn it into a “credible<\/em>” and “competitive .. alternative to the standard BT<\/a> product set<\/em>” if it is to survive. BT<\/a> is one of those bidding on the tender for control.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Unlike most ISPs ASK4<\/a> began life in 2000 with the primary purpose of delivering telecommunications services to multiple-tenanted buildings, with a focus on student accommodation and businesses. Since then it\u2019s continued to expand and now delivers superfast broadband and phone services to over 100,000 students<\/strong> in properties across the country.<\/p>\n

In February 2012 ASK4<\/a> hit the headlines after it stepped in to save the customers of a little known South Yorkshire ISP, RiPWiRE<\/strong>, that had suddenly ceased trading after experiencing a host of “commercial and technical issues<\/em>” with the Digital Region network (here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Suffice to say that ASK4<\/a> has somewhat of a unique perspective on the current broadband market and Digital Region\u2019s potential fate. ISPreview.co.uk has politely pulled in Ross Bray to give us his thoughts on these issues and all of the years other main developments.<\/p>\n

The Interview<\/span><\/h3>\n

Q1. Ask4 has traditionally focused upon more specific business or local residential connectivity solutions, such as by deploying superfast broadband services into apartment blocks. As a result your service has so far appeared to resist becoming a more mainstream \/ national broadband ISP. What is the reason for this approach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANSWER:<\/span><\/p>\n

Ask4 was originally setup with the vision of being different to the mainstream service providers. When the business was setup DSL<\/a> services were just coming online, and we wanted to be ahead of the game, we were well aware of the limitations of the existing copper infrastructure and believed that the future was with Fibre based services. Since then we have been able to offer a much higher level of service to our customers than could be expected from traditional xDSL services, we\u2019re offering business class internet service at residential prices and we would not want to dilute that offering.<\/em><\/p>\n

We continue to look at projects that compliment our MTU offerings, that is one of the reasons we got involved with Digital Region and Digital Teesdale. But we have no plans to become yet another DSL<\/a> provider at present.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

Q2. Earlier this year Ask4 made the decision to acquire the customers of defunct ISP RiPWiRE, which suddenly ceased trading on 1st February 2012 after a spate of “commercial and technical issues” with the financially troubled Digital Region network in South Yorkshire. What first prompted Ask4 to snap up RiPWiRE’s customer base and was this an easy process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANSWER:<\/span><\/p>\n

We are a Sheffield based business and inherently we want the local region to do well. Seeing the potential knock on impact of RiPWiRE leaving the Digital Region network, both on its customer base and on the wider DRL project, we felt it was right for someone to step in and help.<\/em><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t an easy process at all for us to take this on, there was limited commercial benefit for us and technologically integrating the customers into our systems was no small amount of work for our development and network teams. Hopefully for the vast majority of customers though their transition was pretty painless.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Q3. What are your thoughts on the continuing and well publicised financial woes of the Digital Region network, which now looks set to hand its management over to either BTWholesale or ETDE SA (depending upon the outcome of their current tender)?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANSWER:<\/span><\/p>\n

In short it\u2019s a shame.<\/em><\/p>\n

We want Digital Region to be a success for the local region and to offer a credible alternative to the standard BT<\/a> product set. There have been many well-documented problems with the Digital Region project, from the high costs associated with leaving the service, the lack of automation for signup to many of the technical problems that users faced up until very recently.<\/em><\/p>\n

The biggest issue though is that Digital Region does not carry a cost that makes it competitive with the rest of the market. Currently the model is best suited to Businesses and high-end users (this is where we see our customers coming from), but this is a niche market and is not going to bring in the numbers that Digital Region stakeholders would like to see, or need to see for the project to be self-financing. We would have also liked to have seen a rollout of the network that started with those users in mind, rather than targeting the areas where Internet take-up is low and where the cost of subscription is a very real barrier.<\/em><\/p>\n

Digital Region themselves have made much of the fact that there are no big-name ISPs offering services and have attributed many of the failings of the project on this fact. We believe that a good starting point for Digital Region would be to look at why this is the case and why Digital Region doesn\u2019t fit into traditional ISP models, and then work with the existing providers in shaping a wholesale product that answers those questions.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Q4. The UK government’s Broadband Delivery UK<\/a> (BDUK) plan, which aims to make superfast broadband (25Mbps+) services available to 90% of the country by 2015, has recently faced criticism from both the European Commission (EC) and a House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both the EC and Lords inquiry appear concerned at the lack of competition in the BDUK tenders, with only BT and Fujitsu allowed to bid; Fujitsu has already withdrawn from several projects and smaller ISPs seem to have been economically excluded.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related concerns have also been raised over the speed target (25Mbps+ vs the EU’s 30Mbps+) and lack of open access to Dark Fibre lines. What are your thoughts on these concerns and the state of the government’s current broadband strategy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANSWER:<\/span><\/p>\n

Whilst any plan to increase the availability of faster services is commendable, the current plan falls short on a number of areas. Firstly it is focused very much on short-term gains in speeds, a pessimist might say that was simply in order to climb places on International league tables. The plan does not take into consideration the challenges and requirements of an ever more connected society in the next 10 years.<\/em><\/p>\n

Smart Cities, Telemedicine, Home-working, the ever-growing array of media over the Internet and countless other innovations will continue to change our lives and the way that we interact over the Internet in the future. We need to be putting in place the infrastructure that allows us to adapt to these new demands, that is not where we are currently headed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Secondly it is still focused on the 90%. For the UK to be truly competitive in the coming years it needs to be pushing for 100% coverage, mixing fibre and wireless technologies to ensure that we reach everyone and on a relatively level playing field, i.e. not settling for 2Mb, at best, for those in rural areas.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

Q5. The House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry recommended that one solution to improving the situation could be to foster the development of a truly national fibre optic (FTTP<\/a>) infrastructure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But in order to make this economically viable the lords suggested that the “last mile” of connectivity development might need to be paid for by home owners. This could, in some cases, costs thousands of pounds and would be difficult for many to afford. Do you agree with this as a solution and, if not, how would you fix the national telecoms infrastructure?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANSWER:<\/span><\/p>\n

A national fibre optic network is absolutely needed for us to be able to meet the needs of the future. Local fibre hubs make a lot of sense, with the \u201clast mile\u201d being met through a combination of FTTP<\/a> and wireless solutions dependent upon geography.<\/em><\/p>\n

The homeowner paying is certainly a solution to the problem, but not a viable one. The costs will be far too excessive for the majority of people.<\/em><\/p>\n

A combination of public and private funding is needed in order to meet the needs of the rollout. However, there needs to be a much greater understanding within the public sector of the possible benefits to UK PLC of such a major infrastructure build, Smart-cities alone could dramatically reduce the costs for local authorities.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Q6. Ofcom<\/a> recently released a new obligations code that requires all of the UK’s largest ISPs to send Internet Piracy notification letters to customers whom are suspected to have become engaged in unlawful P2P file sharing activity. Repeat offenders could then face account disconnection, other service limitations (slower speeds) or might even be sued by Rights Holders.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Understandably the code has faced some criticism. Many complain that it puts an unnecessary burden upon ISPs, while consumers must also pay to appeal the allegations and only on limited grounds. Likewise the code only targets the account owner, which in this day and age of shared home\/office networks could risk penalising the wrong individual(s). What are your thoughts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANSWER:<\/span><\/p>\n

Whilst copyright infringement cannot be condoned, we believe the code in its current form is unfair to those that are accused of illegal downloading: far from being innocent until proven guilty, the accused are put into a position that makes it extremely difficult for them to defend their innocence.<\/em><\/p>\n

Instead of charging people to appeal, courts could ensure that appropriate action is taken against frivolous appeals.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is also unknown to what extent people will be able to defend themselves. The onus is on the accused to prove that they have not committed copyright infringement, or that they have taken appropriate steps to ensure others haven\u2019t. The ability to do either of these for the vast majority of Internet users is well out of their skill sets, and the likely costs hugely disproportionate.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Q7. Ten of the UK’s biggest ISPs recently signed up to a new ‘Open Internet Code of Practice’, which seeks to ensure “the provision of full and open internet access” and to prevent ISPs abusing Traffic Management practices to “degrade the services of a competitor”. What are your thoughts on the code?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANSWER:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Internet is built upon the principles of openness and whilst there is likely to be more changes, the code is a very positive step forward in ensuring that continues.<\/em><\/p>\n

Traffic management is unfortunately a necessary evil for traditional service providers. However an open traffic management system allows consumers to make well informed choice when deciding which supplier to use.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Q8. What does the future hold for Ask4?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANSWER:<\/span><\/p>\n

Growth and innovation!<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019re continuing to see increased demand for our services in our core student accommodation market and we are working closely with our clients to ensure that we offer services that help them entice customers and drive efficiency in their operations.<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to continue to make the most of the network that we\u2019ve built in order to drive the growth in our business services arm that we have seen over the last year.<\/em><\/p>\n

We will continue to support projects such as Digital Region and Digital Teesdale and hope to see these reach maturity over the coming year.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

END.<\/p>\n

ISPreview.co.uk would like to thank Ross Bray for taking time out of his work to give opinions on the UK telecoms market and its related broadband \/ internet issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chief Operating Officer of Sheffield-based UK ISP ASK4, Ross Bray, has told ISPreview.co.uk that the new owner of Yorkshire\u2019s financially damaged Digital Region broadband network must turn it into a “credible” and “competitive .. alternative to the standard BT product set” if it is to survive. 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