2020 Vision
I recently presented a case to the House of Lords communications committee on the structure needed for designing a set of new internet-centric networks - rather than depend on the old (copper) telephone network design.
You can view the evidence here:
Group audience:
Comments
I can't get the video to load
I can't get the video to load from your link Lorne, but it might be my rural connection...
I did watch it live when you did it though and recommend it to everyone. Did you get any feedback from the Lords? What will they do with your evidence?
You need Silverlight to view
You need Silverlight to view it - not my choice - but the IT guys a the House of Lords seem to run their stuff on it.
Recommendations were as follows:
1. Re-design the franchise areas to be more inclusive (fixed AND mobile), more holistic (i.e. include smart metering etc.), and more joined up with other government procurement policies (i.e. include PSN where possible)
2. Create many new internet exchanges - perhaps 1000 for the UK - that are not based on BT exchanges. This has been shown to reduce the cost of interconnect to the internet for businesses by >20%
3. Create a set of truly open backhaul networks for each of the franchise areas. These would have defined end-points such that local ISPs could benefit from aggregation and serve local government sites and businesses (to start with) with appropriate access technologies (not just fibre).
4. Support a range of funding mechanisms to encourage new businesses to specialise in serving the local internet exchanges - to create a virtuous loop of investment and job creation.
I got some good verbal feedback from the Lords. I hope that they will use my evidence as part of a new way for the government to support the evolution of the next generation of internet access in the UK!
I saw the first couple of
I saw the first couple of minutes and for those of us who havent got the time to sit through all 15 minutes can you draw out the key points? The intial point you seemed to make was that 6 meg of broadband satisfies most people in Goudhurst? That doesnt seem to do much for the cause of super fast broadband? Do you make more positive statements later? Also what was the point of this consultation - as most people in Europe (and in the UK to be fair) have little interest in activities the House of Lords it might be interesting to hear the objective?
6 meg satisfies most people
6 meg satisfies most people in Goudhurst at the moment. I am afraid, Roger, that is a fact from the surveys we have taken. The requirements for superfast broadband (>30Mbps?) come, primarily from small businesses and people who work from home - or those households that have families. The UK's national take-up of SFBB seems to be roughly in-line with our patterns of local demand.
I don't take this to be "negative" and I attempted to create a balanced view of what we have gleaned in a typical rural parish in Kent.
I was encouraged by the House of Lords committee taking a deep interest to understand different points of view in what is a complicated picture with many myths and different vested interests - so that they can come up with a set of recommendations for Ministers to consider. I suggest you tune-in to more of the evidence rather than switch-off after 15 minutes. The evidence is diverse and objective and the whole exercise is a very good use of the internet for a debate. What's more, I can get it on my measly 2.5Mbps in darkest Kent without SFBB!
Just as you (and other "Europeans") might have little interest in UK politics, I also find Euro BlahBlah (and exercises like this one) of marginal interest and cannot see how this Digital Agenda Assembly will actually benefit little old me in darkest Kent - except if I wanted to get a job as a Eurocrat! But happy to be surprised or enlightened if you would like to allay my scepticism and shine a light on the benefits of this exercise whilst Greece, Spain and Ireland struggle to keep themselves afloat.
Thanks Lorne, my comment wasn
Thanks Lorne, my comment wasn't meant to be scathing merely asking you to present your perspective textually to get more comment. You have done that rather well above.
My interest in the European perspective is really to show that other rural communities in remote areas of Sweden and NL (for instance) ARE buying into super fast broadband, and perhaps therefore to consider why it seems important to them but not in your community? Since I also live in Kent (and actually in the county town) and still suffer 1.2Mbps as my 'best' speed it isnt just a rural issue here.
Our experience at a European level is that an amount of education is required to enable demand and realization of the benefits. Sometimes we seem to 'make the best of what we have' in the UK and I fear what that will lead us to in this rapidly changing global economy.
We in the UK are 'off the scale' in terms of fibre to the home - and that must be something that concerns people.
As to the Euro 'blah blah' I take your point as I do believe most bloggers are more interested in what they say than their readers are - however - in this project we are trying to stimulate useful debate as input to the digital agenda assembly, and the position you outlined above IS of interest if this is indeed representative of the UK rural position.
What do others think?
Thanks for your comments,
Thanks for your comments, Roger. I did not realise you lived in Kent. We should get together for a beer sometime to thrash through this stuff!
I am interested to know what NL and Sweden are doing differently.
NL and Sweden are digging
NL and Sweden are digging where they live. Getting on and doing it in other words. We need more of that, and more support for those attempting it in the UK where little or no support is available and councils seem to actively discourage self help. In the words of Neelie Kroes "As you might be aware, I do not believe in defending anti-competitive behaviour. I do believe in removing barriers to new market entrants."
As part of the evidence I
As part of the evidence I presented to the House of Lords, I presented the case for a truly open access middle-mile or backhaul network. If we were to get local councils to nominate hubs and spokes, then the digging / ducting / dark fibre laying could be DESIGNED - and the passive infrastructure could be developed with a bigger plan in mind.
This is a better use of government money, in my view, than propping up the old copper network topology which was designed for voice telephone calls.
This idea is getting quite a lot of traction in various quarters. A good example in the UK is York, where City Fibre Holdings are digging open access ducts to the schools then businesses, then homes. This sequence is also very logical.
That's a brilliant idea Lorne
That's a brilliant idea Lorne. Did the Lords get IT? I remember it being discussed a lot on the Broadband Cumbria blog last year. A digital parish pump, to supply fat pipe to an area full of affordable backhaul would then enable communities, businesses and councils to drink their fill. It is only a short matter of time before they dig in pipes to feed their premises. That is all it take to galvanise them into action. It is a very logical sequence. Maybe that's the final answer?
Thanks, Chris. In many ways,
Thanks, Chris. In many ways, I believe this type of thinking will unlock the grid-lock we are in at the moment. I have good local support (in Kent) for such thinking - and believe that we can accelerate the rollout of fit-for-purpose passive infrastructure by about 5 years if we adopt the approach. It also focuses local authorities in doing some joined-up thinking so that local planning folk actually think about, encourage and accelerate the rollout of an open-access ducts/pole infrastructure that the fibres can be laid in/over.
This idea also got good support from Fujitsu last year.
The current problem is that
The current problem is that local authorities are happier handing public money to the incumbents to harvest the low hanging fruit and protect their investment in the obsolete phone lines. We could certainly accelerate the rollout of fast internet access if we could build the pumps, but we'll have to wait now until the funding is spent and the local authorities realise they have been sold a donkey instead of a racehorse. Do you think Kent can hold out against the telco pressure? Rutland fell this week to join Lancashire in the cabinet party... Fujitsu doesn't seem to be making much impact as even it can't compete without a level playing field. It is dropping out of most procurement in the counties.
Actually, Chris, I don't
Actually, Chris, I don't think that some of the LAs are particularly happy about handing out the money in the way you describe. There are some parts of the country, I believe, that will choose to do things differently, but the majority have not got the will or courage - mainly because they have not been given much of an alternative. I doubt Kent will hold out. Fujitsu's strategy seems to be to be much more risk averse since the Japanese tsunami/earthquake - because they have had to use their spare capitial to rebuild factories in Japan. Apart from BT, the only altnets that are investing are City Fibre Holdings, UK Broadband and a range of companies investing in data centres (e.g. Zen, Telecity). My own view is that the current situation is untenable - and that we will see a lot more LAs becoming so frustrated with what is produced out of the BDUK process that they might seek alternative solutions. Only time will tell - but I do think that the 2020 time horizon will produce many more diverse solutions than FTTC - its just that they are quite low-key at the moment and are not spending loads of cash on marketing their ideas yet. Why should they? It would be too early!
In reply to your question
In reply to your question "did the Lords get it", I think they are quite a long way down the path of understanding the potential. Let's see what they publish in their final report!
The trouble with debates on
The trouble with debates on this sort of discussion channel is that they are all inter-twined. Points made in one place refer or support other threads. I would hope that, at the end of this exercise, we can take the best ideas and craft them into something more readable!
Definitely! I am supposed to
Definitely! I am supposed to do a summary and its like herding cats.
Great. Who is going to
Great. Who is going to receive the output in the EC? Is there an overall objective for this exercise? I probably should know - but can't seem to find it! Also - is there an end-date?
Ah - sorry, Chris - have just
Ah - sorry, Chris - have just found the "About" tab - which seems to answer most of my questions - though I am still not clear how much weight the conclusions will have with policymakers in Europe - perhaps you could shed some insight?
We do a fortnightly summary
We do a fortnightly summary about the debates, and see which topics are rising to the top, and which stakeholders are commenting. I am only a humble animator, but I believe Europe is listening and our voices will be heard. The policymakers have not listened to us before, and I just feel now is the chance for grassroots people to join together - engaging stakeholders, and try to bust the myths a bit. Thanks for contributing! We need every voice, whether we agree with what they say or not, and maybe we can make a difference. Or like other years maybe we are wasting our time, but nobody can ever say we didn't try can they? I think 2012 is our time. Keep the faith.