Press statement: Rutland Telecom comment on Digital Britain Report
Distribution: National and trade press.
Distribution date: 16th June 2009

RUTLAND TELECOM WELCOMES 50P BROADBAND TAX BUT DIGITAL DIVIDE MUST BE CLOSED

Main points:-

The proposed 50p tax will generate much needed funds to deliver ‘final third’ next generation broadband by 2017
The estimated costs for rural broadband delivery are 300% higher than Rutland Telecom’s fully costed Fibre to the Cabinet projects. And is an excuse for not acting sooner to close the digital divide
Rutland Telecom welcomes proposed relaxation of overhead fibre lines regulations. This would reduce costs further possibly to £100 per home if Ofcom forced BT to give all broadband companies access
Rutland Telecom is encouraged by the content of the Digital Britain report published today. Considering the economic climate and the lack of capital funds, the proposal to raise investment through a tax of 50p per line is welcome and will raise over £150m per year earmarked for delivering Next Generation Broadband to the rural “final third” by 2017.

Where we question the report, is in the estimated costs of delivering fibre to the cabinet in rural areas. At up to £1750 per home for the most rural areas, this might be seen as an excuse for not acting sooner to overcome the digital divide. This is over 300% more than our current fully costed Fibre to the Cabinet projects in rural areas.

We welcome the movement towards relaxation of regulations surrounding the installation of overhead fibre lines. This is something Rutland Telecom has already raised with Ofcom and BT Openreach and would further reduce the cost of Fibre to the Cabinet projects.

We believe our costs for delivering Next Generation Broadband in rural areas could drop below £100 per home if Ofcom forced BT to give all broadband companies access to these underused assets.

Rutland Telecom will bid aggressively for a slice of the funds, which should be available through the new independent Network Design & Procurement Group. We also have our sights on the Technology Strategy Board’s £10m for testbed projects. We will use these funds to deliver Next generation Broadband in rural areas to benefit end users.

Rutland Telecom is already on target in Rutland to exceed the Universal Service Commitment for 2Mbps throughout the UK by 2012. Indeed our average speeds in Rutland are already up to 10 times higher and our “UK first” cabinet project in the rural village of Lyddington will deliver speeds up to 40Mbps.

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