Written by David Hennell, Business Development Director at National Broadband
Digital connectivity is crucial in today’s society. We live in a digital world, where everything we see, communicate and interact with is done online – banking, business meetings, shopping, booking doctor’s appointments and so much more.
The Government is aware of the need for reliable broadband and the need for it to be accessible for all. As such, it has implemented policies such as the Universal Service Obligation (USO) to help improve digital connectivity across the UK. The USO is intended to provide a digital safety net for UK citizens and to allow those not receiving the national minimum standard of 10Mbps download broadband speeds via their landline to request a service that provides this. Unfortunately right now it is simply failing to meet this objective, with three major problems preventing it from delivering on its promise. These are in order of increasing severity; public awareness, timescale and cost.
The USO and the challenges it faces
The latest report from BT on the progress of the USO showed that there were only 2,500 USO requests from March to September in 2022. This is despite the fact that according to Ofcom there are over 80,000 properties specifically eligible for the scheme and over 500,000 experiencing speeds below the national minimum standard of 10Mbps from a fixed line.
The lack of USO requests seems primarily to be down to a lack of public awareness. Our recent study shows that two thirds (63%) of broadband users in the UK do not know they are entitled to demand access to download speeds of 10Mbps+. This is creating a significant barrier to any success for the scheme, preventing it from helping those most digitally deprived and truly closing the Digital Divide.
However, that’s just the first issue. The time that it takes for USO applications to be processed is another reason why so few premises are being provisioned with reliable broadband. As mentioned, in the six months to the end of September 2022, BT had received just under 2,500 requests to deliver improved broadband under the USO. However, only 937 of these were deemed as eligible and only 8% of requests made by broadband-starved customers resulted in a confirmed order.
Yawning Discrepancy is cost-related
The biggest reason for this yawning discrepancy is very much cost-related. Under the USO, if the cost of provisioning improved broadband exceeds £3,400, the customer is obliged to pay any difference if an order is placed. As these excess costs very regularly run into tens of thousands of pounds if not more, it is hardly surprising that the USO is showing such a low take-up and proving to be such an ineffective safety net for the most digitally deprived. After all, those with the worst current landline broadband speeds who are most in need are almost bound to be located in areas more difficult, more time-consuming and especially more costly to provision with improved landline broadband.
As we enter uncertain times, requiring individuals to pay sums that go into many thousands of pounds simply in order to be able to access broadband above the national minimum standard is frankly unacceptable. As such, it is equally worrying that since April this year, 20% of the total confirmed USO orders placed have required a customer to contribute towards costs. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get data on the number of requests made under the USO which have not led to orders being placed because of a sky-high cost contribution being required from the applicant.
Either way, as the Government is promising to invest billions of pounds into digital infrastructure, serious questions have to be raised as to whether such budget is being allocated efficiently and if it is actually prioritising those most in need.
Improving digital connectivity with alternative broadband solutions
Ultimately, a huge barrier to providing the digital safety net that the USO was intended to be is the Government’s obsession with cost- and time-prohibitive fibre solutions. Surely it would be better served looking to leverage inexpensive alternative broadband delivery technologies that can be implemented almost immediately and at the fraction of the cost of any fibre-based solution.
By utilising alternative technologies that can make immediate changes to communities’ connectivity, the digital divide can be bridged far more efficiently and rapidly. Solutions such as 4G-delivered broadband are already widely available across the UK and are deployable at a fraction of the cost and time of upgrading landline infrastructure.
Investing in alternative solutions would without doubt significantly accelerate the rollout of decent broadband connections across the UK. It must be borne in mind that improving the UK’s overall connectivity broadband connection in the UK would increase the productivity and output of society, radically improving the economy and creating countless jobs. Having access to good quality broadband would also particularly help businesses grow in rural communities, enabling the potential creation of new hubs of rural economic activity and innovation and thus arresting rural decay.
The Government needs to think more laterally and move beyond the tunnel vision of its solely fibre-centric approach. There are several alternative broadband delivery technologies available that are simply not being considered and that consumers just aren’t aware of. By redeploying just a small part of currently planned investment, leveraging these would provide dramatic improvements in digital connectivity across the country in a far quicker and more cost-effective fashion – and especially for those hundreds of thousands of primarily rural households and businesses still suffering with nigh on unusably slow broadband.