FEATURE
Rerouting Digital Britain
Connectivity has never
The transition to a new generation of broadband presents partners with the opportunity to develop new services
and offerings. Here we examine the key themes emerging from the market
been more vital, and the
last decade has seen huge
improvements made to the
infrastructure underpinning
Digital Britain. e two big
transitions currently underway
concern 4G services shifting to
5G, and bre to the premises
(FTTP) broadband replacing
bre to the cabinet (FTTC).
Changeover periods between
technology generations never
happen overnight, so a gradual
shift throughout 2020 and
beyond was expected. en the
coronavirus pandemic hit.
COVID-19 triggered a
sudden shift to homeworking
for a huge proportion of
the UK workforce. is put
unprecedented pressure on
legacy infrastructure, with
many businesses putting
stopgap solutions in place to
sustain core operations as much
as possible. Now the initial
wave of the virus is behind
us, everyone with a stake in
Digital Britain is regrouping to
add new momentum to vital
connectivity projects.
For many, these projects
should be driven forward
urgently. Henry West,
Commercial Director at
Truespeed, explained,
“Building an inclusive full bre
infrastructure that leaves no
business or household behind
requires a joined-up approach
by industry and government.
e pandemic has brought
the full bre debate into sharp
focus. Many people working
from home are struggling with
substandard connectivity, which
in turn impacts the nation’s
productivity.”
“To level the playing eld
and build a resilient digital
economy, there is an urgent
need for government to
accelerate the pace at which it
green lights full bre rollouts –
particularly in harder to reach
areas. In parallel, infrastructure
providers need to ensure they
are fast and nimble enough to
meet this surge in demand with
a competitive o ering.”
West added that, once
the right infrastructure is in
place, the channel can build
o erings around the improved
functionality. He said, “With
this vital infrastructure in place,
channel partners can boost
revenues with new services
and o erings designed to help
businesses compete e ectively
in this new digitally driven
reality.”
Organisations that relied on
xed line telephony solutions
have had to speed up upgrade
projects to ensure employees
could remain connected to each
other, and to customers and
clients. Matt Dexter, Head of
Business Development accounts
at Openreach, explained, “ e
Covid pandemic has clearly
had an impact on the market
but in more ways than one. As
channel partners have looked
to drive cost e ciencies and
futureproo ng what they
market to their customers,
we have seen an accelerated
migration away from legacy
copper; particularly of ISDN2
and ISDN30 to our all IP
solutions.”
Rural coverage
Rural coverage has historically
been patchy, with ‘not-spots’
sti ing the development of
digital services in remote areas.
Openreach’s Dexter explained
why this issue has come under
the spotlight. He said that the
shift to homeworking brings
with it “the need for faster,
more reliable and future proof
broadband.”
To manage this longterm,
Dexter said Openreach
aims to reach 20m homes
and businesses with FTTP
throughout the UK by the
mid-to-late-2020s. at vision
includes plans to make full bre
available to more than three
million homes and businesses
in some of the UK’s more rural
communities.
Openreach will reach much
of the UK’s geography over the
next decade, but other providers
are meeting the need for FTTP
today. Nextgenacess builds lays
bre broadband in areas that
are not reached by largescale
providers, like Openreach.
Mark Weller, the company’s
Managing Director, said that
this is vital as rural coverage is
“more important now than ever.
e increase in homeworking
Harry Singh, senior sales specialist, data, Gamma which was necessitated by
14 | Road to Full Fibre 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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