MARKET REPORT Connectivity - Digital Britain
“Even in its infancy, test rollouts and 5G experiments have blown minds and challenged what we
thought was possible through connectivity tech.” Dan Cunliffe, Managing Director, Pangea
Connectivity –
What does Digital Britain
mean for the Channel
Barely in the job a week, new PM Boris Johnson made some encouraging statements around his intentions for the
fi bre market. Having previously called the fi bre roll-out timetable laughable in the Telegraph, he went on to say that
we should be aiming for full-fi bre (FTTP) in the next fi ve years. Let’s see eh?
Whenever I hear the
words ‘Digital Britain’
it conjures up other
well-meaning slogans
such as the 1990s ‘Cool
Britannia’ or Apple’s ‘ ink
Di erent’.
Paul North, Head of Sales
at Entanet would seem to agree
with me when he says, “ e
danger with the term ‘Digital
Britain’ – as is often the case
with a catchy soundbite – is
that it will be used by many
organisations – commercial
and non-commercial – to draw
attention to whatever they are
promoting. at can end up
diluting what the term really
means and confusing people.”
So what does Digital Britain
mean?
e UK Government has
stated a commitment to create
an all-digital future and set
targets in their 2018 Future
Telecoms Infrastructure Review
(FTIR). Added to the goal of full
bre access for all, there are new
innovations in technologies such
as 5G, AI and machine learning
that are expected to signi cantly
enhance and change the way we
live and work.
As Ofcom’s CMR 2019
con rms, for a number of years
now the use of connectivity
and apps at home has to a large
extent seen business use cases
follow so we asked a number of
questions to channel suppliers
of digital services enablers – the
connectivity part.
How will the UK manage the
post-WLR world of all-IP
networks?
Digital Britain means a full
bre Britain according to
Richard ompson: Director of
Partners at TalkTalk Business
“ e opportunity that full
bre brings to the channel
is huge and there are a lot of
expectations around the rollout.
Higher bandwidth and faster
speeds will improve customer
experience, which in turn will
reduce customer churn and
deliver a lower cost to serve.
However, the challenges for
the channel can’t be overlooked.
Working with a variety of Fibre
to the Premise (FTTP) access
providers will create complexity
and there will be a patchwork
quilt of coverage o ered by
multiple providers without
standardisation. Each provider
has their own set of technical
standards, operational models,
pricing, product variants, SLAs
and customer journeys.
In addition, there is a race
to get there rst. First mover
advantage is going to be vital.
Once a customer is on FTTP
they’re unlikely to move.
erefore, the provider that
can bring a full bre product to
market will reap the rewards.
However, that doesn’t mean
that the rst o ering will be
the best. Providers need the
scale and experience to deliver
a great customer experience,
as well as relationships with
altnets to reach the whole
country. e nature of our
channel environment is going
to change. We can’t see the
UK as one overall geographical
location anymore, we need to
understand where our Partners
are strong and where we can
help them grease the wheels of
digital Britain.”
Nick Powell, Sales
Director at Sky Business
Communications believes we
have to manage the postwholesale
line rental (WLR)
world through the ‘best
available’ approach, with full
bre at the top end, through
5G, FTTP and so on.
“As an industry we should be
looking at educating the market
to the bene ts IP Networks will
bring them; for example, access
to VoIP and what additional
functionalities this brings to
make their world easier
to connect and
communicate.
We should
learn from
other markets
that are already
migrating
(Germany, France, Switzerland
and New Zealand) and
understand how we can best
avoid ‘forcing’ consumers to
migrate – it leads to problems,
poor market perception and
high levels of complaints
which are not conducive to our
industry.”
Dan Cunli e, Managing
Director at Pangea, says that
with digital applications like
WhatsApp and Skype taking
the landscape by storm, we’ve
already made serious headway
into a post-WLR world.
“We’ll continue to
gradually adapt as a nation, as
businesses make suite shifts
and infrastructure changes.
And, really and truly, that’s
a big positive—it spurs
healthy competition, which
in turn breeds disruption and
innovation; leading to better
services all-round.”
Andrew Dickinson,
Managing Director at >
Much of the
growth in data
use is driven by
online video.
42 | Comms Business Magazine | September 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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