This is a call to try to reach someone who has the get up and go to grasp the British government’s handling of the UK HS Broadband quest.
It is my opinion, and I believe that of many others, that HMG is ‘giving in’ to BT lobbying. The ‘brokentelephone’ blog by Ian Grant on 17 Oct brought the not unexpected news that HMG was to ‘preserve the BT monopoly’ but also the (to me) shock news that any PIA achieved in BT ducting was limited to supplying broadband to ‘domestic customers’ only. How this can be ‘allowed’ I do not know.
I am serving on a ‘Programme Board’ whose brief is to steer West Sussex County Council to broadband heaven using the £6.26mill BDUK allocation and the WSCC match-funded £6.26mill. We have discovered that BDUK have imposed very strict conditions on how the County can use the money. They have imposed an NDA to prevent WSCC telling us, their ‘Programme Board’ how they propose to implement whatever plans they have or how they will offer for tenders. That makes our task SO much easier. Chuck in the HMG restriction on the financial status of any potential bidders-in plus the NDA imposed on the 6 major ‘players’ and we have what many find a farcical situation.
This £12.5mill may well be ‘given’ to BT for all we know. They, according to track record in rural areas, might achieve a 40% connection rate at 15mb or more. They have already stated they do not see any ‘commercial incentive’ to re-upgrade Infinity users to FTTP when it becomes available. All of which will leave WSCC with an enormous bill to do the other 60% - ignoring the holy grail of FTTP, of course. It will also leave the UK in the broadband slow lane or even broken down on the hard shoulder.
What is of interest is that with £12.5mill, and based on typical costings, I reckon WSCC could lay over 1000km of NEW fibre to rural communities. The county is not that big. Thus they would be laying the foundation for FTTP AND achieving dear Jeremy’s much-vaunted ‘Digital Parish Pump’ - or was that just hot political air? This will be the same in other Local Authorities, I’m sure.
I and others wish to see one or more of the several extremely ‘vocal’ bloggers actually challenge HMG in public on the direction they are taking. I asked INCA if they would. They appeared to take on the role of a chocolate fireguard and silence has ensued. Ian Grant told me the national media are too much ‘in bed’ with advertising revenue. It has been opined to me that “the main players such as Kitz & TBB have too much to lose if they become openly hostile to the behemoth. The BBC has been muzzled but perhaps ITV(advertising revenue?), Al Jazeera (spelling ?) , Sky might not be so bashful ?” Are they all just ‘mouth and trousers’?
What a sorry state of affairs! The country is being sleep-walked into wasting a lot of the £530mill ‘allocated’ to improving our poor broadband areas.
Anyone important out there prepared to stand up and say ‘Look at the King’s new clothes!’ ? Anyone? It is, after all, so much easier to ‘blog’ than to do. I hope she will forgive me the crudity, but from what I see of Lindsey Annison up in Cumbria she has more ‘****’ than’ many male Bloggers…………………….
[Edited for language - Admin]
