Superfast Broadband - Evidence - Parliament

Boundless Communications Ltd – written evidence
The Government have committed
£530 million to help stimulate private
investment – is this enough and is it
being effectively applied to develop
maximum social and economic benefit?
Will the Government’s targets be met
and are they ambitious enough? What
speed of broadband do we need and
what drives demand for superfast
broadband?
In fact, are there other targets the
Government should set; are there other
2 Andy Wilson, Chief
Executive
Boundless Communications
3 Andy Wilson, Chief
Executive
Boundless Communications
4 Andy Wilson, Chief
Executive
22
By adopting a blend of FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) and FTTM
(Fibre To The Mast) coupled with high speed radio delivery to
the premises that cannot be reached easily with fibre it is
possible to deliver 100Mbps broadband to virtually everyone
now.
Grant funded FTTC schemes will not address the demand or the
population fully in Rural areas. A “Universal Service Obligation”
is a must along with the recognition that large Tier 1 providers
will not deliver without partnerships with other smaller rural
providers.
The £530M is a welcome addition to help bridge the “Digital
Divide”. However, many organisations ideally suited to deliver
maximum benefit to rural communities are prohibited from
bidding because of the selection criteria used. It appears to be
geared towards large Tier 1 providers. Adopting a more flexible
approach would allow other companies to participate delivering
greater penetration and a faster roll out at a much lower price
point.
Targets will always be achieved if the criteria used for defining
them are not tight enough. For example “97% of the population
will receive superfast broadband” is a great headline figure and
technically true. However if you are in the 3%, which may
actually equate to 10 or 20% of the rural population in
geographic terms, it is a failure. Care should be taken to ensure
any targets will directly drive benefits to the communities in real
need. It is possible with a blend of technology to deliver high
speeds to the majority of communities providing coverage close
to 100%.
See (1 & 3) above however more specific measurements
focussed directly at the target communities and groups should be