Fair Shares and Funding

Copied below, with appropriate approvals, is a recent BIS email to a rural UK Community ISP.

Worthy of note is the reference to BT ducting being blocked at some point for every one of the 31 route examples quoted!

A better way to assess the true situation re actual BT duct spare capacity availability is to perform a more representative and comprehensive study across various geo-types

- the NextGenUs hypothesis being that rural locations will have a significantly higher percentage of available BT ducting than the single metronode example given.

Put simply:

If there is no space left in ducts etc, then what is occupying the space and what useful work is it doing?

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Thank you for your emails of 27 October, 13 November and 16 November to Stephen Timms on above subject. I have been asked to reply, and I apologise for the delay in doing so.

On the specific issue of using BT’s poles and underground ductings, Ofcom have been looking at how duct and pole access could be part of the mix of options for delivering Next Generation Access (NGA) in the UK. They have been doing this through their duct surveys and by looking at what has been achieved in other countries, and this issue will be included in their Wholesale Local Access Review consultation which is due to begin in Jan 2010.

It is worth pointing out that duct and pole access on its own would not provide straightforward options to deliver NGA, and there are limitations which will need to be overcome before this option is achievable. For example, in a survey carried out as part of Ofcom’s work on NGA, of 31 paths between the metro node and the exchange, Ofcom found that all had at least one section where there was very little unoccupied space. This means that, even with duct access, communications providers would probably need to build new duct in at least some locations. However, on the other hand, duct and pole access could reduce the cost of market entry, be deployed quickly and make good use of existing infrastructure, which is why Ofcom is currently assessing its viability.

In terms of funding, the Digital Britain Report, published in June, set out the Government’s plans for a Universal Service Commitment for broadband of 2Mbps for homes across the country by 2012. The Government has committed £200m of public funds to help deliver this, with the remainder of the costs being met from the private sector through in-kind contributions, competitive commercial pricing through tender contract and design, and contributions from other public sector organisations. The Government is currently discussing with stakeholders the technical specification of the USC and how the procurement might be structured. We expect that the procurement process itself is likely to start next Spring and all stakeholders will have the opportunity to submit their proposals for evaluation in due course.

Also posted on www.fibrestream.co.uk