Broadband

Remarks by the Chair of Ofcom’s Consumer Panel that ‘next generation’ broadband should skip a generation to prioritise those without broadband today have been met with a muted response from the two companies that could potentially build the required nationwide network.

Neither BT nor Virgin Media was able to answer positively SamKnows’ question of how people who cannot get broadband today on a phone line would be offered fibre optic ’super fast’ connections in the future.

The call for ISPs, government and telecommunications businesses to come together to ensure that those without broadband skip a generation and go straight to fibre came from Ofcom’s Consumer Panel Chair, Anna Bradley as she outlined her determination that Britain’s digital divide should not be allowed to deepen.

“If we are imaginative and use a mix of private and public business models, we could provide a way for consumers who are excluded from first generation broadband to leapfrog straight to the next generation,” she said.

“Decisions need to be informed by a proper sense of the value of next generation networks, not just to companies and consumers, but to the economy and society as a whole.”

Whilst claiming that it welcomed the Ofcom remarks, BT was not able to offer any reassurance that its £1.5bn roll out of fibre across the country would be able to prioritise those currently without broadband or with a poor broadband service. A spokesperson for BT also pointed out that the country’s digital divide is not purely geographic.

“We’re just embarking on the roll-out of next generation services and it may be premature to try and predict which areas won’t be served by the market,” he said.

“Ofcom’s own market reports indicate that the take-up of current generation broadband varies by age, income group etc as well as geographic area, so bridging any perceived or actual ‘digital divide’ raises issues wider than just network coverage - the same is likely to be true for next generation services.”

BT was keen to bring up the cost of widespread fibre pointing out that third parties calling for better broadband in sparsely populated areas might need to look in to helping to co-fund fibre.

“We are always keen to work in partnership with RDAs and other regional and public bodies - it may well be that new business models will develop reflecting the wider costs and benefits of new technology,” a BT spokesperson summed up.

In the current market, this leaves only cable broadband network Virgin Media as a potential ‘white knight’ to bring fibre to areas too far from telephone exchanges to receive broadband. However, the company reveals it has no roll-out plans at present.

“We’re currently concentrating on our existing network, we’re not planning on any uprooting, we’re working on what we’ve got,” a spokeswoman told SamKnows.

“We’re upgrading to Docsis 3 which will give us a 50Mpbs service which will be available to more than 12 million homes by the middle of next year. There may be some new infrastructure around new-build projects but we’re not planning any extension of our network at present.”

Given the huge cost of a fibre roll out, it seems increasingly unlikely that the technology will make a great impact on the digital divide in the first instance and is almost certainly not going to enable those without broadband to suddenly leapfrog to super fast next generation connections.

Tags: BT, fibre optic, OFCOM, Virgin Media