The burning question now is not why but when? When can I expect to have NGA in my area?
Unfortunately the answer to this is not so simple largely due to one factor: cost. Deployment of a fibre-optic infrastructure to cover the whole of the UK is going to cost a lot - estimates upwards of £40bn are probably even a little conservative.
So, do we look towards our current telecom providers? Surely those companies who have already built out infrastructure across some or all of the country: BT, Virgin Media and KCom (the local provider for Hull) are best suited to building the NGA? Actually, of those, only BT has the UK-wide coverage. Virgin Media only operates in densely populated urban areas and KCom only operates in Hull. So do we rely on BT to deliver the NGA? On the surface of it that would be the ideal answer. After all BT has a great deal of experience in building networks, operating them, delivering services and offering customer service and support. However, it is a public company, which means it has to answer to its shareholders and deliver financial performances to meet market expectations. Billion pound investments (in addition to those it already makes) are not conducive to a healthy bottom line. It would also create another monopoly which is not in our best interests.
That said, BT are not inactive. They have started a small pilot trial for FTTH (Fibre to the Home) in Ebbsfleet, Kent and have announced that they will start trials of FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) in Muswell Hill, London and Whitchurch, Cardiff. You can read more about BT’s projects here: http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/products/nga/nga_hp.do
There are other commercial groups who are looking to deliver FTTH services. H2O Networks have announced projects in both Bournemouth and Dundee with another 10 cities to be announced shortly. Fibrestream have started on their network build in Hull and surrounding areas and there are other, smaller projects around the UK. For more information on NGA projects around the UK take a look at our NGA Map.
The chances are you are not covered by these projects, many of us aren’t. A nation-wide NGA coverage is required if Britain is not to fall far behind the leading Asian markets and our European neighbours but we are far short of that goal. Consider these statistics from a report entitled “European FTTH Forecast, 2008 - 2013” conducted by Heavy Reading:
The report in full can be found here
What you see here is that in terms of the total number of connections, in 2013 the UK will rank behind most of the other major European economies. The most worrying statistic, however is in the second chart: if you take the total number of connections as a percentage of the total number of households in the country (i.e. the penetration rate) then the UK is almost bottom of the list with only Turkey behind us.
Think of the impact to the country. Think of the damage this will cause economically. The implications of this will effect everyone living in the UK. Therefore the question is not “when will I get it?” but “what can I do to ensure NGA is delivered in my area?”
The major operators such as BT and Virgin will deliver improved broadband services through FTTC or DOCIS 3.0 in major urban areas but will fail to cover 50 to 60% of the UK population. Community-owned networks through mutual or co-operative local groups represent our best way forward.
This may sound like a frightening prospect: potentially thousands of disparate networks run by people who have little experience or knowledge of communications. But it does not need to - with the right structure and partnerships these networks will represent a sound investment for the community. It is time for us to act - for you to act!
next 