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Strategies for rural broadband The need for radical action Tim Johnson, Chief Analyst, Point Topic NextGen 2010: Broadband in the Rural Economy 23 November 2010. www.point-topic.com. Three points today. Rural areas need broadband more than urban areas
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Strategies for rural broadband The need for radical action Tim Johnson, Chief Analyst, Point Topic NextGen 2010: Broadband in the Rural Economy 23 November 2010 www.point-topic.com
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
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
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
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 Diagram shows Point Topic’s Broadband Infrastructure Index band for each local authority, the darker the better.
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
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
Drilling down from the region to the village to find the most left-behind areas Drilling down 1: Derbyshire Dales has low take-up – 35.6%
Drilling down 2: find and select the lowest MSOA – 32.4% take-up
Drilling down 3: next, 003D is the lowest take-up LSOA – 28.2%
Drilling down 4: one COA is a total notspot with zero broadband
Radical action is needed – four tasks for government • Help the broadband business case to leverage wider community benefits • 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? • Tackle the absurdities of the fibre tax • Legislate for information transparency
Tim Johnson, Chief Analyst, Point Topic tim.johnson@point-topic.com 020 3301 3303 www.point-topic.com