{"id":27143,"date":"2022-02-08T23:09:41","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T23:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=27143"},"modified":"2022-02-08T23:09:41","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T23:09:41","slug":"gov-ponders-approach-to-gigabit-broadband-in-remote-uk-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2022\/02\/gov-ponders-approach-to-gigabit-broadband-in-remote-uk-areas.html","title":{"rendered":"Gov Ponders Approach to Gigabit Broadband in Remote UK Areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK Government has just published a response to its consultation on the question of how significantly faster broadband ISP networks can be extended to reach the final 0.3% of the country (i.e. under 100,000 premises), which are too expensive for their new \u00a35bn Project Gigabit<\/strong><\/a> programme to reach in its current form.<\/p>\n

At the end of 2021 fixed line “superfast broadband<\/em>” (30Mbps+<\/strong>) coverage had reached around 97% of UK premises and gigabit-capable (1000Mbps+<\/strong>) networks hit 65% (here<\/a>). The latter is thanks largely to the combination of Virgin Media<\/a>’s DOCSIS<\/a> 3.1 upgrade to their existing hybrid fibre coax network and the wider commercial rollout of Fibre-to-the-Premises<\/strong> (FTTP<\/a>) by multiple operators.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> Commercial deployments alone are expected to extend gigabit broadband coverage to over 80% of UK premises.<\/div>\n

The Government’s new Project Gigabit<\/strong> programme aims to help further improve the picture for gigabit speed connectivity by using state aid to target connectivity improvements toward the final 20% of hardest to reach premises (i.e. helping to extend gigabit coverage to at least 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025 and then “nationwide<\/em>” by 2030).<\/p>\n

However, both Project Gigabit and the existing 10Mbps broadband USO scheme have long recognised that tackling those who live in so-called “Very Hard to Reach<\/em>” areas would be “prohibitively expensive<\/em>” (here<\/a> and here<\/a>). The current expectation is that, once the current programmes have completed, around 0.3% of premises (under 100,000 homes and businesses) could fall into this group.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> According to data provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there are approximately 420,000 premises in the UK which are classified as \u2018remote\u2019 – representing c.1.4% of all UK premises.<\/div>\n

\"UK_Premises_by_Rurality_Pie_Chart_2021\"<\/p>\n

Most of those described as being “Very Hard to Reach<\/em>” exist across remote and isolated locations in Scotland and Wales, as well as some of England’s National Parks. Back in March 2021 the Government announced a new call for evidence<\/strong><\/a> to see if they could find any solutions for such areas, which might enable them to access significantly faster broadband speeds and in a more cost-effective way.<\/p>\n

The government has now published a response<\/strong><\/a> to their initial consultation on this issue, which sadly doesn’t provide much of an indication on their future direction and largely just summarises the problems (e.g. high costs, access to spectrum, difficulty securing wayleaves and backhaul capacity etc.), as well as potential options with no big surprises. But they do intend to “set out a series of policy proposals<\/em>” that will be forthcoming later in 2022, which will better explain how they intend to address the connectivity challenges.<\/p>\n

Julia Lopez, Minister for Digital Infrastructure, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I am proud of the work done so far by the telecoms industry, supported by the government and Ofcom<\/a>, which has already delivered gigabit-capable broadband to over 62.5% of premises in the UK, including more than half a million homes and businesses in hard to reach areas. However, there is a lot more still to be done.<\/p>\n

Our rural communities need good digital connectivity to prosper in an increasingly connected world, and we are committed to ensuring that no part of the UK is left behind. By definition, it is going to be much more difficult to deliver gigabit connectivity to the hardest to reach parts of the UK – around 20% of UK premises – and that is why we have committed a record \u00a35 billion of capital funding to support deployment in these areas.<\/p>\n

I am keen that decisions about better broadband are based on evidence from those who will be most affected by them. Detailed information about the demand for broadband services, their invaluable benefits, barriers to deployment and take-up is crucial. We also need evidence from suppliers and vendors on technology availability, maturity, capabilities and costs to provide connectivity in Very Hard to Reach areas, both in the UK and overseas.<\/p>\n

I would like to thank everyone who submitted a response to this call for evidence. This will be used to inform the future policy decision making of the experiences of those facing limited connectivity so that we do not see a digital divide emerge.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The expectation is that all of this could lead to the government encouraging the industry to use new fixed wireless solutions, LEO satellites (e.g. Starlink<\/a>, OneWeb<\/a>) and hybrid platforms to help push faster broadband into the hardest to reach areas. However, it is noted that LEO based solutions are still in early development and may yet run into capacity problems with wide take-up, at least in the medium-term.<\/p>\n

We don’t yet know what the outcome of all this will be, but we could easily see a voucher approach being extended to help cover the cost of LEO hardware or to help subsidise wireless builds. But at present the \u00a389 per month rental on Starlink<\/a> is still far too expensive for most people, so that would ideally need to change first (or OneWeb<\/a> may launch with better affordability on BT<\/a> or Eutelsat<\/a>’s service).<\/p>\n

Finally, the Government noted that, during the evidence gathering process, a number of issues were raised that while not directly applicable to the terms of the call for evidence, do affect rural and remote premises. Therefore, the government has set out its response to these issues below, while wherever possible highlighting alternative government programmes that are available which can offer a more immediate solution. But as above, these responses don’t say anything particularly new.<\/p>\n

Government Response<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Why are you not addressing premises that are expensive to connect but are not geographically Very Hard to Reach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As stated in the original call for evidence, some premises may not be geographically Very Hard to Reach but may present a potentially high cost to upgrade or service if there is a lack of economies of scale. This could be due to network deployment strategies or the availability of legacy services.<\/p>\n

These premises may also appear when<\/p>\n