Voices from the Final Third

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Yesterday, Radio Lancashire devoted the day to rural broadband. (As well as ironing, oddly). Here are some sound clips from those who are daily affected by this country's (market) failure to connect its citizens and businesses and who are represented by the Final Third First campaign. And from Stephen Timms, who phoned in to be interviewed.

Rachel, who runs her own horse riding and trekking centre and cannot get online even to check e-mails. (I think that counts as digitally excluded, Martha!) 2m50s

Sam, David and Matt, who are teenagers, are trying to cope with the lack of a social life, unable to do homework or revision, be part of a band, conduct Uni research, and suffer disbelief from peers and teachers. Why? Because they don't have access to broadband or the Net. 3m48s

Ted and his wife, Mandy, cannot work and study from home. They also have teenagers, who cannot do their homework, access revision from school. Ted cannot work as the rest of the international company he works for do - from home. He points out that many other countries offer broadband accessibility, even on the beach, whilst the UK doesn't. "We need a centralised approach to the infrastructure. This to me is like electric, it's like water ....we provide that ourselves...we have a generator and a wind turbine. We're not frightened of taking it on, we have the will to be able to do it". 4m59s

Chris talks about the Final Third First campaign, the social impact on rural life (especially for teens) without broadband, Wray network, loans, bonds and funding, and removing red tape to enable the build of sustainable community fibre networks. 4m37s

Lindsey (half awake, thanks Chris!) tries to explain what being an Internet Marketer means without broadband and why I want to take my business out of the UK now after 15 years trying to get a decent connection. I would like to point out that this is no reflection on my ISP who have done their very best to work with the laws of physics and ancient/decrepit BT copper. 3m09s

Stephen Timms responds to questions after Sam, a teenager in Lancashire talks about his problems with school, homework and no broadband.

Your comments on the Minister's interview would be welcomed!!

















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Point Topic maps true broadband need by constituency

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Read more! Point Topic have released an interesting data set in the run-up to the election, showing by constituency how much subsidy is required for what they are calling "superband". It makes for fascinating reading.

Except that, as my constituency figures extremely close to the top, showing that 74.9% of premises here will require subsidy, I am opening an account for donations to enable me to move to Portugal or Lithuania and escape this seemingly never-ending torture.

The big problem, I guess, is that this is a safe Tory seat, and the tech manifesto gives little doubt that they are going to await market failure before freeing up money for constituencies like mine.

My response to that argument, Jeremy and Ed, would be that there is already market failure. Thousands of people round here do not have access to broadband TODAY, and we certainly don't have access to anything like the connectivity available in parts of rural Lithuania, Portugal, Sweden, Latvia, etc etc and at least 20+ other etcs.

Shall I spell this out? The market has failed us with first generation broadband. The market and our politicians are clearly failing us with the required change to the next.

So, would I vote Labour? Nope, not after Stephen Timms responded so depressingly predictably on Radio Lancashire this morning, ignoring the real questions and only giving us the reassurance that even by 2017 at least 10% of this country will not have next generation services. That'll be us then. Deep joy. And that's without mentioning the fact that BDUK clearly aren't going to have enough money to do the Final Third if they only have access to £1Bn to do so.

£28Bn/3 does not = 1, even in my highly chaotic world. Even I know that 3/3=1 and I have never, ever seen a figure anywhere that says it will cost £3Bn to do the Final Third. If it were only going to cost that much, then what are we waiting for?

Meanwhile, what virtual world does anyone live in where 2Mbps is sufficient for most businesses? Have you tried running a digital business, any business, on a connection that impoverished in 2010, Mr Timms? Especially asymmetrical.

Do none of these politicians get IT at all? If I and thousands of other rural SMEs cannot contribute what we should be capable of into the national economy WITHOUT decent or preferably true broadband, there is market failure. Not just telco market failure, but SME failure. And it's RIFE.

We can't afford to create jobs and employ people. We can't compete, not just with our urban peers, but with peers in other countries, even developing ones. As digital or post-industrial exporters, we can't export, therefore we are not bringing in external funds, just relying on the little we can earn here in the UK. Our bottom lines are overloaded with costs no competitor has to face - do you want my postage and fuel bills because I can't upload files and have to mail or deliver them by hand? Our environmental impact is far higher than it need be. And we obviously can't pay more taxes on non-existent revenue.

When you do your sums for how much it will cost to FTTH, I think you should try doing some sums on how much it is costing right now NOT to. And if anyone else tells me to move house, I will point them to my new Paypal fund, expect an appropriate 'relocation donation', and gladly take them up on it.

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Wireless networks to be taxed

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Read more! Rumours abound about the fast-tracking and retrospective introduction of property tax for wireless networks in the UK. This can only have disastrous consequences for Digital Britain, and community networks and rural areas in particular.

As regular readers of this blog are aware, property tax on fibre has been a major bugbear, not just for those of us who constantly battle for grassroots' views to be heard and understood, but also within the industry. It has been one of the major contributory factors in the lack of investment in FTTH in this country. Where other countries have scrapped or substantially reduced the tax to aid the deployment of fibre infrastructure, this government has seen fit to continue to treat fibre optics as properties and tax accordingly, thereby hindering the roll-out of fibre for years.

Now, in a seemingly as yet unreported move, it appears the Valuations Office Agency has decided, in its infinite wisdom, to also apply the property tax (rates) to wireless networks, including metronets and in-building networks. Not only could it be introduced before the end of this year, it could also be applied retrospectively to existing wireless networks. As I understand it, it will be £100 per access point per year. And it can be applied back to the inception of a project.

Let us consider the consequences of this decision.

Firstly, whilst much noise has been made about using wireless to cover the shortfall in fibre deployment to ensure ubiquitous broadband is available to all, it would now appear that the soft and fluffy noises about community broadband initiatives delivering on that need, particularly in rural areas, were precisely that - white noise, clouding the reality. The economics of community, rural wireless deployment are always going to be tight, particularly without any central intervention promised yet to those who can actually deliver what consumers need. Adding £100 per year per access point will stretch that business case, potentially to inviability, and discourage many from taking up the challenge to innovate and connect the disconnecteds.

A community network can over-deliver to those within its 'manor', becoming sustainable whilst still offering more than any commercial operator ever can because of knowledge of that community and what it requires. Customisation of the services, bespoke services relevant and unique to that community or region, community ownership, personalised and valuable customer understanding, and so on, often leads to far higher engagement and hence more positive outcomes than a commercial operator can manage. This has been clearly and unequivocably demonstrated in spades, both here and abroad.

Not only that, but the allocation of free spectrum in the 2.4Ghz range has seen some of the most astounding innovation in technology to the masses in the last decade. It is the work of community wireless pioneers across the world that has seen:

* the Everest Base Camp and surrounding areas connected by Dave Hughes and Tsering Gyaltsen Sherpa, which has brought much-needed income into the area, as well as bringing vital education and safety aspects with it.
* Rural and remote communities operating wireless networks in Bolivia, Cambodia, and all corners of the world, including using motorbikes instead of IP transit
* Community networks such as Wray, Wennington, Withernsea, South Witham etc leading the way since 2004 in the UK in reaching the notspots.

I could list thousands more such projects that have all directly impacted communities that had they a) been left to governments or industry or b) been taxed would never have happened. These projects, started by those at grassroots and who care for their communities, have led to fast-track development of wi-fi until it is now included in every laptop and most mobile devices.

Secondly, once again, this seems to be a play into the major operators' hands - in this instance, the mobile operators. One can only wonder who exactly has been lobbying hardest over summer since the Digital Britain report. Much of the mast infrastructure for these operators to supposedly deliver mobile broadband is in place, and is taxed according to the existing property rating system. There will be little requirement for them to take on extra cost, leaving them in a prime position to deliver broadband via wireless in direct competition to the community networks and smaller operators and new entrants without existing infrastructure.

WE HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE and it does NOT work. This is exactly what happened with BT and fibre optics. BT are dealt with in an entirely different manner to new entrants and therefore many, including Vtesse etc, have had to fight (and continue to do so) in the Courts of Law to have the playing field levelled so that we have open and fair competition in the fibre marketplace. This proposal will repeat the mistakes yet again, and further stymie investment.

However, with mobile broadband, the issue that has consistently been raised, and seems to go unheard in Westminster and within the ivory towers of the operators is that mobile broadband is not fit for the purpose that broadband was intended to be used for, not now nor in the future.

It's fab as a cloud, giving ubiquitous access to those on the move, but as the core means of connecting to broadband? Absolutely not. Our aim has to be 1Gbps for everyone as soon as possible and mobile broadband is a very, very long way from that. Rural areas will NOT be happy, thank you very much, with being told that all we can have is what is available over an already patchy and at times non-functional mobile network. It is time some of those in Westminster came out to try and use mobile phones in the sticks. THEY DO NOT WORK. No matter the operators tell you they have 99% coverage. BT tell you precisely the same thing about ADSL. It is not true and you need to listen to the consumers, or get burnt.

Furthermore, and in contrary to everything we in this country know needs to be done to regenerate the economy, this taxation will hit not just commercial operators such as The Cloud and Open Zone, in shopping centres and other commercial spaces eg large business premises, but also educational networks which have been put in specifically to allow kids to access school networks from home. Our schools are already in difficult budgetary times, and retrospectively charging them (or those supplying, operating and maintaining their networks) can only be seen as a stealth tax on our hard-hit and struggling schools. Apparently, hospitals are currently exempt but don't count on that to last long.

Those offering free or low cost wi-fi, which has been acknowledged worldwide as bringing major cost-savings to business travellers as well as opportunities to citizens and communities, will be placed under very major threat. If your Starbucks has 3 or 4 access points, you will now need to make at least £1 a day to cover that cost. In reality, this means generating a revenue of at least £6-10 from sales in your premises to make the set-up worthwhile. Or you start charging, thereby driving customers away from your premises at a time when every business needs them more than ever. Or you cut your losses and it therefore impacts on your bottom line, and hence profitability as a business.

Talk about killing the golden goose.

If this proposal goes ahead, this country will once again have failed its people. Worse, it will have done so to protect private, commercial interests in favour of the citizens. Far worse, it will have taken money in taxes that will actually cause yet further problems to our struggling business, education and rural sectors, when that money could far more easily come from encouraging the build of the essential infrastructure required for the next 20+ years and hence encouraging economic growth and social well-being.

The fact that Stephen Timms MP is in charge of HMRC, of which the Valuations Office Agency is an executive agency, and also in charge of delivering Digital Britain must now surely be looked at carefully. There is a clear conflict of interest between what the Treasury coffers are seeking and what this country needs in the way of true, workable, future-proofed broadband. Taxing the hell out of wireless and fibre is not the way for a Digital Britain and Mr Timms must surely be aware of that. Can he sleep at night? I hope not, because with these constant idiocies going on to the detriment of this nation, I know I can't.

You heard it here first.
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Timms - pleased but..

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Read more! Stephen Timms has been announced as Communications Minister but is the timing crap or what? .........

I've met Timms, followed much of his career because of my involvement from before CBN got off the ground etc, and read much about his engagement with all things 'digital'. I know many people who have worked under him and with him.

But I think there has been a major cock up here.

Someone like Timms, who has experience in the social enterprise sector, who is heftily involved with communities (Newham etc), and who is without a doubt a geek with vision, should have been involved in Digital Britain from the offset. He has a broad mindset for all things 01100100011010010110011101101001011101. Timms is not an industry insider who has now set the gameplan in his report and scarpered. Many of us feel very unsure about the longevity, scope and industry agenda of that report - not just for broadband, but across media, spectrum issues, etc etc, hence the much welcome, grassroots political activity that led to the Unconferences.

I think I feel sorry for Timms. The summer recess is nowhere near over, and when everyone comes back he has 'moments' before the Christmas recess to achieve anything, and as of January, campaigning will start in earnest for the election, with the largest number of new candidates running for election since 1833 - fondly known as the "Class of 2010".

His chances to give us any kind of a #digitalbritain legacy will, whatever the end result of the election, undoubtedly be overturned by all the bloody shenanigans that a general election engenders in the civil service. You try phoning them in the interim...last time, I spent hours trying to track down DTI contacts, only to be told, "No-one is really in charge right now."

All I see, and as ever I am being my normal blunt self, is yet further delays in creating #digitalbritain, a potentially good person who could help the eNdGAme be achieved being shafted by the system because of the timing, and another f*&^ up in working together as a nation to deliver what is required for the eNdGAme.

Right now, I feel far from +ve.

I would welcome other points of view, either via the comments section or in my inbox.

Cheer me up, folks, please. Me crystal ball 'as gorn all cloudy and I think it's tears.

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