Faraway fibre

If the near term is bleak for the “broadband challenged”, the government has finally – many say belatedly – offered hope of a full-fibre rollout, a 5G roadmap and up to £5 billion in funding.

In its Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, the government acknowledged Britain lagged behind on end-to-end fibre connections. “The UK has only 4% full fibre connections and lags behind many of our key competitors,” the paper stated, promising funding and changes to the law. Spain stands at 71% and Portugal at 89%.

The target for full fibre is, however, as distant as 2033. Much work will be needed across industry to make even that modest vision a reality, as it means switching off the ageing copper network and replacing it with fibre.

Key recommendations include full-fibre connections to new-build homes, as well as rules to force unrestricted access to BT Openreach ducts and poles for both residential and business use, including mobile infrastructure.

The DCMS suggested an “outside-in” approach, with rural areas getting priority, while commercial operators would be encouraged in viable areas through schemes to open up ducts, gas lines and sewers to cable providers.

Furthermore, the fibre would be used to drive a 5G network, which under the plans would benefit from more spectrum and easier access to state-owned estate for positioning masts.

The industry largely welcomed the plans, but fibre providers warned against “overbuild” and sought assurances that they would not be sidelined, referencing the way that BT has previously won the lion’s share of contracts for broadband improvements.

“While the government is right to state that a full-throttle drive to nationwide full fibre connectivity requires competition and commercial investment to succeed, a fair and equitable playing field for all infrastructure providers is essential,” said Evan Wienburg, CEO of fibre provider TrueSpeed. “This has not always been the case.

“There are numerous examples of taxpayers’ money being wasted by national incumbent providers building FTTC [fibre to the cabinet] or FTTP [fibre to the premises] networks in areas where privately-funded infrastructure providers have already deployed.”