I wrote a quick analysis of non-monetary options that Jeremy Hunt can use to improve the quality and coverage of broadband in the UK for Left Foot Forward: Hunt for super-fast broadband covers some of the concepts that I had been thinking about for a while:
- Addressing the disparity between business rates charged for optical fibre versus copper cables
- Revisiting the approach to the forthcoming 4G spectrum auction
- Addressing planning issues for mobile telecommunications base stations
More over at Left Foot Forward
Best thing that he could do is remove the universal requirement. If Hunt were to accept that parts of the UK are uneconomic to provide then you may see deployment speed up. One of the issues with 21CN has been BT dragging its feet over connections into the home saying that it has to provide connections that can be used by other retailers. This means that in the few homes in Ebbsfleet that have fibre you see two lines entering each house one for IPTV and another with four connections 2 for data and 2 for voice. If regulation was to say we accept stage deployment and that BT in its region 1 area needs to speed up roll out or open ducts. Those who live in such areas could then see high speed data connections lift house prices just as good schools ans transport links do.