MONITOR
UK manufacturers want fibre
UK manufacturers’ trade body EEF( Engineering Employer’ s Federation) has responded to the Government Review of Business Broadband warning that the UK’ s ongoing focus on speed of rollout is potentially distracting policy makers from delivering what industry really needs.
In its submission, EEF says that manufacturers’ primary focus is on a digital infrastructure that is cost effective, reliable and resilient. It must also be future-proofed. The latter is particularly important with the sector on the cusp of a fourth industrial revolution( 4IR) that will see greater integration of physical production with internet enabled technologies.
Eight in ten manufacturers( 80 %) say that 4IR will be a business reality by 2025 and over six in ten( 62 %) plan to invest more in Internet-connected capital equipment in the next five years. Over nine in ten( 91 %) say that a high-speed connection is as important to their business as electricity and water, while manufacturers rate broadband infrastructure as the second highest priority for investment, behind motorways.
New analysis by EEF shows that in the key areas of speed, network availability, quality and reliability, leased lines are seen as the best choice in meeting
Eight in ten manufacturers say that 4IR will be a business reality by 2025 manufacturers’ requirements. This highlights the fact that the need is not just about speed, but wider factors to do with reliability and resilience. Such is the importance that over a third of manufacturers( 34 %) have invested in a dedicated leased
line connection, which consequently pushes them down in the queue for superfast broadband upgrades.
EEF is calling for a stocktake to ensure that reliability, resilience and future requirements are being taken fully into account and to ensure appropriate remedies. It says that following the Business Broadband Review, Government must provide a clear framework for improving reliability with milestones, along with plans for remedial action if those milestones are missed. It must also ensure that all players – including Government – stand behind an agreed and co-ordinated strategy.
EEF warns that the UK is‘ in the last chance saloon’. BT’ s Fibre to the Premise( FTTP) rollout has reached just 1 % of households and businesses, while the UK remains off the league table for FTTP subscribers according to the FTTP Council Europe.
According to Chris Richards, senior business environment policy adviser at EEF, Britain has“ clearly benefitted” from the move to faster broadband, which has transformed the economy.“ But there’ s still much more to be done. The legacy of focusing on speed has served its purpose and it’ s now time to do a stocktake on what we need going forward. For manufacturers, this is clear – we need a more reliable, resilient and future proofed network to match the fundamental importance digital infrastructure plays in our modern economy.”
“ The UK needs a strategy to improve the reliability of our digital infrastructure through a much more pervasive fibre broadband rollout. We also need confidence that the Government will stand behind that strategy to make sure it’ s delivered. The reality is that if we don’ t do this now, in five years’ time we won’ t be arguing about where we are in the international league tables – we won’ t even be in them,” he warned.
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23 % millennials are OTT-only broadband homes
Parks Associates research finds that 23 % of millennial heads of household are OTTonly households, higher than the national average of 15 % among all US broadband households. The firm’ s analysts also note that 61 % of millennials subscribe to both pay-TV and OTT services, also higher than the national average of 52 %.“ Younger consumers are willing to subscribe to pay-TV service, provided the offerings align with their expectations,” said Ruby-Ren Bond, research
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analyst, Parks Associates.“ In particular, millennials show higher-than-average affinity for popular culture and premium movie channels as well as programming for younger children.”
“ OTT services are experimenting with a variety of models in order to differentiate and find their niche within the crowded North American market, which has over 130 active OTT video services,” Bond said.“ Start-ups and incumbents alike are experimenting in balancing content offerings, content costs, revenue generation, and consumer appeal.”
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Parks Associates OTT data shows: l Nearly 60 % of OTT video services in the North American market are subscription-based. l 64 % of US broadband households subscribe to an OTT video service, up from 59 % in 2015. l Average monthly spending on Internet-based SVoD services among US broadband households increased from $ 3.71 per month in 2012 to $ 6.19 per month in 2015. l Approximately 20 % of US broadband households cancelled at least one OTT video service in 2015. 5 % of |
US broadband households cancelled Netflix in 2015, up from 4 % of households reporting in Q2 2015 that they cancelled the service in the past 12 months. l 14 % US broadband households subscribe to Hulu, and 7 % of US broadband households cancelled the service in 2015, roughly the same churn rate from Q2 2015. l 24 % US broadband households report having a subscription to Amazon so that they can stream video. The churn rate for Amazon’ s video service declined slightly from Q2 2015 to the end of the year. |
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