2. A WIDER PARTNERSHIP - COULD THIS BE A WAY FORWARD FOR RURAL BROADBAND IN SHROPSHIRE?*
3. RURAL BROADBAND DEBATE AT WESTMINSTER
4. INCOMPETENCE ON A STAGGERING SCALE (IF TRUE) 5. BROADBAND IN THE NEWS
* We’d appreciate your feedback on this
1. EDITORIAL
Since last June the better broadband campaign has been successful in raising awareness of the unresolved problems surrounding broadband connectivity for the more rural parts of Shropshire and the Marches. With the benefit of hindsight, our petition to Shropshire Council requesting priority for those households and businesses with poor connection speeds could never have succeeded. We had no way of knowing at the time that despite generous public subsidy the contract with BT was so inflexible, and also skewed in favour of its own commercial interests rather than the interests of rural internet users. Nevertheless the exercise was worthwhile as it was the beginning of a journey that has uncovered a trail of government incompetence and narrow thinking, and the anger it generated has continued to fuel our campaign.
But something more constructive is now required. Shortly before Christmas we suggested to Shropshire Council that with the funding that is currently available (and even with that anticipated), the only way to arrive at full connectivity is to engage with a wider partnership of organisations in order to bring more resources and ideas to bear than they can on their own. That proposal is explained more fully in the next section of this email. Officers have agreed to consider our proposal, but it would also require political approval. A similar approach appears to be starting up in Northamptonshire, as reported below in 5 (2), and it's a model that's been tried and tested in other contexts.
We also wrote to the chairs of all parish and town councils, 35 of whom recently came out in support of our campaign, suggesting that they too consider this proposal. We have already received some positive responses expressing a willingness to talk together to see what could be done. If that happens we hope by then that Shropshire Council will have agreed to explore these avenues and the two thought process can merge. As a campaign group we have no authority and can only work by explaining the problems, suggesting solutions and persuading others to act, so for the time being we must sit back and see if anything unfolds. Two members of our campaign team have arranged a meeting with the three Shropshire MPs on 24th January and this proposal will be one of the topics they intend to discuss. We will, of course, report any news on that front and continue to send you reports on what else is happening on the broadband scene across the country.
2. A WIDER PARTNERSHIP - COULD THIS BE A WAY FORWARD FOR RURAL BROADBAND IN SHROPSHIRE?
Our proposal to Shropshire Council at the beginning of December, and more recently to the parish and town councils, is that a Broadband Partnership be established that enables stakeholder groups to work together to achieve Superfast connectivity for every rural household and business that requires it. The rationale is that known sources of funding are unlikely to bring high speed broadband to all premises without harnessing the energies, ideas and additional resources (in cash or kind) from a wider stakeholder group.
Six aims are proposed:
1. To support projects outside the scope of the main broadband programme where communities wish to upgrade their broadband infrastructure.
2. To bring additional resources to bear to improve connectivity e.g community grant applications.
3. To devise imaginative methods of funding e.g. private sector investment (click here for e.g)
4. To communicate progress of broadband roll-out to the widest possible audience.
5. To receive feedback on factors inhibiting connectivity.
6. To evaluate progress against quantifiable measures.
At the very minimum such a partnership would comprise Shropshire Council and those parish and town councils that wish to take part, although a wider membership could strengthen it considerably. Enterprise South West Shropshire at Bishops Castle has already signified its willingness to become involved.
The partnership would function in a fairly straightforward fashion, with perhaps bi-monthly meetings. An independent Chair would need to be agreed at the earliest opportunity and some modest resources identified to support running costs e.g. venue costs, production of a newsletter, etc. A condition of membership would be to act as a conduit of information to and from each member's constituency and an early task would be to agree aims and objectives.
Additional resources in cash and kind could be sought from within communities, or by them from other sources that a local authority cannot access. These would be used to upgrade or replace existing infrastructure to the highest affordable standard. If, as is currently feared, Superfast Extension money does pass to BT, those communities still likely to be stranded with 2 Mb could still work together to devise community-based solutions; many examples exist across the country. Economies of scale and wider expertise would come from collective working. Shropshire Council could assist as a facilitator if particular expertise could not be found – see 5 (2) below.
Despite inevitable and very understandable reservations that this would be an additional burden on rural taxpayers who have already contributed to the Rural Broadband programme through their taxes, at least it could bring solutions (click here for an example). It would also surely tick some political boxes, therefore gain support, at a time when attempts are being made to revive the much discredited ‘Big Society’ ethos.
We’d appreciate your feedback on this, and to know of other organisations that would support the idea.
3. RURAL BROADBAND DEBATE AT WESTMINSTER
Firstly many thanks to all of you who wrote to your MP asking them to attend this debate. We know from quite a few emails that a good number of people wrote to Philip Dunne MP, although it turns out he was abroad so couldn't have attended the debate. Nor was Daniel Kawczynski MP able to, but a note from a member of his staff to a constituent read"[Daniel] will be writing to him (the Minister) in order to re-iterate the points he’s made to him in meetings and in previous correspondence; mainly that Shropshire has a number of houses and communities in Shrewsbury that despite Connecting Shropshire will have little to no broadband."
Our email was also picked up by Philip Virgo, Chairman of the Conservative Technology Forum and an on-line journalist for Computer Weekly. Philip Tweeted our request for MPs to be contacted, so it ricocheted around the country and received even more attention (You can read Philip's article by clicking here). We were copied in to quite a few heartfelt messages to MPs in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire as well as Shropshire from people whose broadband service is getting steadily worse. Here are a few extracts from those emails:
“..... we are feeling the deepest of all the cuts in other areas too (hospital provision, fire and ambulance). Our schools, shops and pubs are closing too. The young are moving away to seek work. We are not here to be a recreation facility for city dwellers seeking to ' get away from it all' , We are communities who deserve better treatment than we presently receive."
"As a local Architect, Broadband is a crucial tool to me in today’s modern design environment which often demands the uploading and downloading of very large files, the manipulation of complicated documents or researching websites over the net."
"As a self-employed, home-working IT consultant this is having a serious impact on my ability to deliver work on schedule."
"We employ 12 people here and depend on our internet connection for our business operation.........frequently we find it so slow as to be almost unworkable."
".... we have a resident who is striving to run a business from home and cannot get any form of functional broadband from his fixed line and has to operate via his mobile phone. As the mobile signal is so weak in that area he often has to leave the house and drive round the local lanes just in order to pick up his emails."
"The absence of quality broadband is already having an impact on house values. This will be a subject high on the list of concerns for South Shropshire's rural voters at the next election."
And as for the debate itself?
“Sweet words are like honey, a little may refresh, but too much gluts the stomach.”
There were very close parallels with the situation in Shropshire, although the residents of North Yorkshire can take greater comfort with the way their elected representatives are working together at Westminster. You can read the Hansard reporthere or better still watch the recorded proceedings here. It lasts about half an hour. Although it started off fairly neutrally we definitely advise you to take the brown paper bag from behind the seat in front for the later stages. Julian Sturdy led a triumvirate of neighbouring MPs who, despite praising existing roll-out plans to the highest heavens, avoiding outright criticism of a highly contentious government programme, and providing a masterclass in the art of extreme unctuousness, managed to both highlight some of the programme's shortcomings (e.g. lack of a transparent deployment plan) and also demonstrate that together with their local authority and the CEO of N. Yorks Broadand, they are working together effectively to meet the needs of those constituents who at the moment are likely to remain in the 2 Mb minimum guarantee category. It was an impressive team effort. It seems they’d already persuaded BDUK to dip into its contingency fund for more cash (we don't know if Shropshire applied), and now they’re working hard to get hold of a generous share of the Superfast Extension Programme money. Chances are they’ll succeed at this rate. And as for Mr Vaizey, the responding minister, he spent ten minutes saying virtually nothing, although he did neatly bat away any discussion of alternative technologies such as wireless broadband which is not recorded especially well in the written report. There was a hint that BT will be getting the £250m Superfast Extension money, but not the £10m cash for innovation.
"..... my officials and I and BT were all looking at the issue [ £250m SEP] over the Christmas and new year period. We hope to make an announcement shortly, but I know that they appreciate that we have to get it right and ensure that the money is allocated properly and fairly."
So much for competiton when the main bidder helps the government work out how to dish out the dosh! If the Lion's share does go to BT, let's hope the trade off is that BT immediatley finally clarifies its deployment plans in every single local authority area so that the final prectages can be descoped.
4. INCOMPETENCE ON A STAGGERING SCALE (IF TRUE)
As we explained above, our email asking you to write to your MP generated a lot of emails and quite a few telephone calls. One source, whom we regard as very reliable, to our complete surprise actually made a case for delaying the release of the £250m Superfast Extension Fund. In recent campaign updates we have already expressed concerns that this money might end up being passed straight to BT (now reinforced by what was said in the N. Yorks debate), despite ministers' apparent desire for there to be a strong element of competition once details are announced. The train of thought exists that if the money is released during 2014, because it is governed by the way in which the EC State Aid Reguations for broadband roll-out were interpreted by BDUK, and because BT was the sole bidder and won all the contracts, it can only legally be passed to BT. If, however, the money is held back until 2015, those regulations will expire and it can be put out for competitive tender under a revised framework. BT, it is alleged, is working hard to make the case for early release of the cash, so is potentially rubbing its hands together in anticipation of another windfall courtesy of UK taxpayers, (and Ed Vaizey could have been confirming that if you watch the TV clip in 3).If this is correct it is scandalous beyond belief. We have written to Philip Dunne to ask him to seek clarification. No doubt the Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, chair of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee will ask questions about this. Her committee slated the whole BDUK processback in the summerand is apparently revisiting the matter in February. It would also be pretty embarrassing with electioneering for 2015 now starting to take place. Surely heads should roll if this is correct?
5. BROADBAND IN THE NEWS
(1) Still nothing but ‘jaw jaw’ at Westminster
Staying with this theme, in our last email we also wondered if the £250m Superfast Extension Programme would end up being gobbled up by BT at the expense of alternative approaches. Is the government really that powerless to break out of the straightjacket they’ve created from themselves and - more to the point - us? The following article from ISP review, which we’ve reproduced in full because of its importance, suggests that they might be. Deeply depressing if correct.
The Government’s Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey MP, will chair another round table event at Parliament on 14th January 2014 to discuss extending faster broadband Internet connectivity into rural areas. A key focus of the meeting is likely to be the new £10 million competitive fund. At present the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme aims to make fixed line superfast broadband (25Mbps+) download speeds available to 95% of people in the United Kingdom by 2017, which rises to 99% by 2018 if you also include fixed wireless access and mobile broadband solutions. So far BT has nabbed all of the funding for the initial allocation of £530m, which was intended to help extend related services to 90% of the UK, while the next 5% is being catered for by an additional £250m and, despite promises of a more “commercial focus” for the BDUK project, it still looks increasingly likely that most of this will again go to BT. As a result the next meeting, which will involve both telecoms operators and major campaign groups like the Countryside Alliance, is expected to focus on the tiny new £10m competitive fund that was announced during early December 2013. Little is known about this vague new fund except for the fact that it aims to “test innovative solutions to deliver superfast broadband services to the most difficult to reach areas“, which could include “enhanced mobile services, new fixed technologies and alternative approaches to structuring financial support, working closely with the communications industry“. The focus is thus less on true fibre optic fixed line solutions and more upon alternative wireless methods, which could be of benefit to operators like Vodafone and EE that have an interest in offering fixed wireless and Mobile Broadband based services. The new fund sounds like another attempt to do what DEFRA’s £20m Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF) has so far struggled to achieve, although it should be said that none of the RCBF money has been recycled into the new scheme and the RCBF itself is still attempting to find solutions to some of its long running problems. Suffice to say that 2014 is already shaping up to be another year like 2013, where the debate over funding and solutions ended up polarising opinions about the best way forward. But the situation could become more interesting late this year when the major political parties move into pre-election mode and start to tout their own proposals.
Ten million quid won’t go very far. Oh, to be a fly on the wall on 14th January to watch Sir Barney White-Spunner,KCB, CBE of the Countryside Alliance, former Commander of the British Field Army, pitted against the Rt Hon Ed Vaizey MP. He’s the minister responsible for broadband roll-out at DCMS whose main claim to fame, other than continuing to dash rural dwellers’ hopes of a decent broadband service, was to have submitted an expenses claim in November 2011 of 8p for a 350-yard car journey and 16p for a 700-yard journey.
(2) But ‘jaw jaw’ in Northamptonshire and Telford appears to be helping:
Northamptonshire seems to be a very forward thinking local authority for rural broadband. Not only has it published a deployment map that is far more detailed than any other we’ve seen, but it states quite openly that it wants to use that information to identify gaps in BT’s deployment so that they can be filled by alternative approaches and investment. Although nothing but common sense, by comparison with most other local authorities this is ground-breaking. You can read more herein their latest newsletter.
Telford & Wrekin is not a player in the BDUK rural broadband programme because it is already generally well-served for internet speeds, and also has money problems so couldn't find the required matched funding. But it recognises that some of its more isolated areas are still only receiving a less than adequate service. Click here to read how it’s asked those communities to talk to them in order to come up with solutions.
A while back we reported on how parts of Worcestershire, including parishes near Malvern, were helped by Worcestershire County Council to set up their own broadband service (in spite of some disagreements with BT over deployment maps). This more recent report describes how that project has fared, the answer being quite successfully.
We’ve touched on this before, but if we have truly been stuffed by BDUK and can expect no more than 2 Mb bandwidth, might our suggestion for a partnership approach or (maybe a number of more localised approaches) from Shropshire communities together with neighbours in Telford & Wrekin, Worcestershire, Powys and so on possibly create the financial viability to attract alternative provision? If SEP money isn’t involved (although we dearly hope that it will be), there’s no need at all to observe county boundaries.
(3) With God on our Side.
In our last campaign update we added health service provision to the growing list of reasons why a faster broadband service is becoming essential for rural communities. That was in addition to the economy, education, democracy, socializing, shopping and the environment. This time we’ve added religion, and we’re quite serious because whether you’re a believer or not, the church is a pretty important glue in holding rural communities together. TheB4RN community broadband project in Lancashire (which we’ve mentioned before and will probably mention again) now has the Methodist Church using it’s fibre-optic cables to transmit services to people who can’t get to church. The article is here. And closer to home, clickhere and hereto learn how the Bishop of Shrewsbury is using Twitter to spread the Gospel.
(4) Farming News.
A critical annual report on DEFRA's performance highlights poor morale, and unreasonable insistence on digital returns from farms while rural broadband coverage remains incomplete. Click here. And it's also reported here. Meanwhile this report describes how if farmers get one digit wrong they can lose all their grant
(5) An interesting one to watch.
This story from a community broadband project in West Oxfordshire describes how it has had its RCBF application approved, and also its area descoped from BT’s deployment range (so it is possible). But no broadband supplier has been confirmed yet, and that will be very interesting. This is theirproject specification and invitation to tender,which includes wi-fi access at the village hall.
(6) Faster broadband tops wish lists across the country.
This groundswell of opinion is not going to go away. Click here.
(7) Now it's Suffolk's turn to get hot under the collar.
It's a depressingly familiar set of complaints and exactly the same as our own, but this time it's the county councillors who are voicing them.
(8) Something to cheer you up!
Just confirm that surfing the web is a truly wonderful way to waste a load of time, click here for a cheery German hymn to the internet. Now that’s the way to run a campaign. We’ve been taking notes!
