COMMUNICA | Issue Four
The average 30mb connection
speed for the UK falls below the
1GB connections of countrlies
like Sweden.
seven years, after which it must be replaced with
newer, faster equipment so partnering with the
private sector ensures adequate skills and up to date
equipment are delivered and supported. In contrast,
fibre has a useful life of at least 40 years.
Fibre strands do not decay, corrode, rot, wear or
expire.
If left undisturbed, they will continue transmitting
data for decades with no or minimal maintenance or
upgrades.
Fibre is the perfect asset for a local government
to invest in to improve the local infrastructure for
economic development.
Fibre can be financed over time frames that are
comparable to other public infrastructure projects,
such as asphalt or concrete, and in ways the private
sector cannot contemplate.
What’s more, unlike concrete and asphalt, fibre
can provide a revenue stream necessary to repay
debt without unduly burdening the other capital
obligations of the local government.
This revenue share itself is an ideal way of funding
future growth of the network.
The benefits are widespread as technological
development advances at an exponential speed
where Internet of Things (IOT) and Smart
tech demand ‘on the fly’ real time cloud based
functionality requiring ever increasing speed both up
as well as down from the internet data centres.
Simply the copper telephone lines of the past can
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never be as future proofed as fibre direct to the
subscriber (FTTH).
Coupled with this, plans unveiled by Chancellor
George Osborne in 2015 revealed that councils in
England will be able to keep the proceeds
from business rates raised in their areas from 2020
instead of passing 50% to the central purse and then
asking for grant money back.
Whilst on the surface an attractive arrangement it
however puts the responsibility back on councils to
generate business rates.
He quotes “attract a business, and you attract more
money; regenerate a high street, and you’ll reap
the benefits; grow your area, and you’ll grow your
revenue too”.
Nothing attracts businesses to a location,
encourages start-ups, and invites inward investment
more than access to high speed internet so councils
will need to take a proactive role in deploying fibre in
their boroughs.
But that doesn’t mean local governments should all
become Service providers.
“Sweden has a policy of 98% of
citizens having a min 1000mbps
or 1Gig speed up and down both
at home and work, by 2025.”