Strategies for rural broadband The need for radical action Tim Johnson, Chief Analyst, Point Topic

Strategies for rural broadbandThe need for radical action

Tim Johnson, Chief Analyst, Point Topic

NextGen 2010: Broadband in the Rural Economy

23 November 2010

www.point-topic.com

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Three points today

Rural areas need broadband more than urban areas

The rural-urban digital divide is growing Radical action is needed to reverse this

trend By local communities, from the region to

the village By national government, to change the

rules so rural broadband can work

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Rural areas need broadband more

Improve access to resources Leisure, work, health, education, security,

government

Reduce environmental costs Avoid commuting and other journeys Support the shift from physical to virtual

Make it easier to earn a living Remote working for ordinary people Create the economic foundation for viable

communities

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Rural areas are falling behind

The gap is widening as bandwidth needs increase Superfast broadband is the new target Greater distances and lower population densities

make it hard to finance

Our infrastructure index measures the gap Takes the average of 6 speed-related indicators of

broadband coverage

Rural areas behind urban on every one Rural scores 25%, urban 67% overall

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Rural is far behind on all infrastructure measures

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UK Infrastructure Indexby Local Authority (v12)

5 (42)

4 (131)

3 (126)

2 (100)

1 (7)

.

Diagram shows Point Topic’s Broadband Infrastructure Index band for each local authority,the darker the better.

And there isn’tenough money

There is already a huge gap in the quality of broadband infrastructure between areas.

Unless there is significant public intervention the gap will get worse.

The £530m provided by the Spending Review is nowhere near enough.

We need to rebalance investment priorities in favour of broadband

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Radical action is needed – by communities

Local pride, enthusiasm and JFDI are just the start

Only investment based on a working business model will deliver a lasting fit-for-purpose service

Go a step beyond the given -Create the business case

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Creating the business case

Many different parties will benefit Who will contribute to the cost?

Foundation customers? Environmental funds? Developers and property owners? Infrastructure builders?

The case for investment must be made Good data is one requirement – here is where

Point Topic can help

But government needs to change the rules so rural broadband can work

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Drilling down 1: Derbyshire Dales has low take-up – 35.6%

Drilling down from the region to the villageto find the most left-behind areas

10 Drilling down 2: find and select the lowest MSOA – 32.4% take-up

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Drilling down 3: next, 003D is the lowest take-up LSOA – 28.2%

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Drilling down 4: one COA is a total notspot with zero broadband

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Drilling down 5: demographic make-up of the notspot COA

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Radical action is needed – four tasks for government

1. Help the broadband business case to leverage wider community benefits

2. Provide some investment certainty So that investment now is not gazumped

by big players a few years ahead A railway model - bidding for area

franchises to minimise gap funding?

3. Tackle the absurdities of the fibre tax

4. Legislate for information transparency

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Tim Johnson, Chief Analyst, Point Topic

tim.johnson@point-topic.com

020 3301 3303

www.point-topic.com