The government is calling on all of us – local authorities, businesses and residents – to tell them about the problems faced by people living in the most poorly served areas for broadband.
These are areas that are on very poor broadband speeds of under 10 Mbps and are very unlikely to be covered by commercial fibre roll-out plans or, due to their remoteness, financially unviable even when government subsidy is applied.
The government’s ‘call for evidence’ is our chance to highlight to them the areas we know are struggling, and will continue to struggle unless something fundamental changes.
The Covid pandemic has shone a light on just how essential access to decent connectivity is to meeting the demands of 21st century life – it’s a necessity, not a luxury.
Dorset Council will also be submitting a report of our evidence on the county’s broadband provisions and will be calling on the government to direct national funding to areas like yours and improve both the financial offer and the technology available under the Universal Service Obligation.
Responses to the call for evidence have to be in by 11 June. Below is an executive summary of what the government is asking for and here is the link to submit your response Improving broadband for Very Hard to Reach premises – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
If you have any questions, please do contact us at connectingdorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
Government call for evidence: Improving connectivity for Very Hard to Reach premises
Executive summary for residents and businesses
Introduction
Digital connectivity is more important now than it has ever been. We have seen during the pandemic how it has enabled millions to work at home, provided information and entertainment to those in isolation and allowed children to continue their education while their schools were closed.
Our rural communities need good digital connectivity to thrive in an increasingly connected world, and the government says it is committed to ensuring that no part of the UK is left behind.
The government is calling for evidence that is focussed on delivering improved broadband to our most rural and remote areas. These are the hardest to reach areas of the country, where the costs of delivering broadband rise exponentially due to isolated locations and substantial distances between properties and telecoms infrastructure. All of this makes it incredibly challenging to deliver improved broadband.
There is a very small proportion of premises across the UK – potentially less than 100,000 – that are likely to cost significantly more to connect to the latest broadband technologies. These are the “Very Hard to Reach” areas.
The government is seeking evidence from residents and businesses in these areas to help inform its approach to improving broadband in the hardest to reach areas.
And that is where you come in.
The government wants to hear from:
- Consumer users of broadband services, those who are resident in remote rural parts of the UK and cannot access broadband speeds of more than 10 Megabits per second (Mbps).
- Business users of broadband services in these areas, including those working in the agricultural sector.
Dorset Council is urging people living in our most remote areas to seize this opportunity to tell the government of the problems you face due to poor broadband.
We have summarised the very lengthy document that comes with the government survey to help you access the information more easily.
The Government’s Call for Evidence – a summary
The document that accompanies the government’s call for evidence survey looks at four areas of improving broadband: demand, benefits, barriers, and approaches to supplying improved broadband.
Due to the technical nature of the subject, residents and businesses do not need to complete the section on supplying improved broadband.
Each section of the document looks at what the current evidence is, why the government is calling for more evidence and what questions it is using in the survey to get the information it needs.
- Demand for improved broadband
The government is asking for information on current provision and take-up of broadband by residents and businesses in Very Hard to Reach areas, including businesses in the agricultural sector.
It is doing this to help understand the specific needs of communities and businesses located in Very Hard to Reach locations. It also wishes to understand how consumers and businesses in these locations expect their broadband services to change over time. This will help the government plan for future policy decisions and understand the benefits that will come from improved broadband.
This section of the survey will ask residents and businesses:
- For basic data to analyse responses (such as household size or business type)
- What devices and services you use
- What broadband services you use and how much they cost
- What speeds you receive and whether they are what was advertised
- How reliable the service is and how satisfied you are with it
- What broadband speed you think you need
- How much you would value an improved connection speed
- Whether you have access to mobile data alternatives
- How the pandemic has affected your needs for connectivity
2. Benefits of improved broadband
The government is asking for more information on the benefits of improved broadband including social, environmental, and economic benefits.
Evidence suggests that the circumstances of people living and working in the hardest to reach locations can differ from even the rural ‘norm’. However, this does not reflect the social, environmental, and economic benefits of broadband to specific geographic areas.
This survey will enable the government to assess the benefits of improved and more reliable broadband in Very Hard to Reach areas.
This section of the survey will ask residents:
- How would access to improved broadband benefit you?
- Have you ever used or been offered a virtual health service, such as an online GP session? How would you rate this service based on your experience?
- Has your household made use of tele/virtual education? How has your virtual education experience compared before and after March 2020 (the beginning of the first COVID-19 lockdown)?
- Do you have access to the following services (regardless of whether your premises has made use of them): Online libraries? Online medical appointments? Online learning? Online banking?
- How do you think better broadband would affect: Your ability to stay connected with friends and family? Your access to online entertainment (e.g. films and TV streaming)? Your access to support services? Your ability to work at home?
- How do you think having access to these services would affect your wellbeing and welfare?
This section of the survey will ask businesses:
- How would access to improved broadband benefit you?
- Which online applications are important to the operation of your business?
- Which of the following does your business have access to and makes use of? Online accounting? Online orders? Online conferencing? Online banking?
- Does your internet connection enable or inhibit: Remote working? Customer or supplier access? Business efficiency or cost savings? Cloud data storage and security? Business flexibility? Access to new markets? Profitability? Product or service range? Access to training? Staffing and recruitment?
- Has digital connectivity enabled your business to enter different markets or sectors in addition to your original business activities?
3. Barriers to delivering or accessing improved broadband
The government is looking for evidence of things that stop people getting better broadband, other than services being unavailable in an area.
Does the remoteness of rural areas and the nature of the rural businesses impact your awareness of modern technologies and act as a barrier to you embracing recent technology?
The government wants to assess how best to remove any potential barriers to delivering improved broadband to consumers in Very Hard to Reach locations.
To do this it requires evidence that:
- confirms the availability of networks
- provides more information on upfront costs faced by consumers
- highlights any price and non-price barriers that face people in remote areas
- provides further information on the experience of consumers and businesses with any existing broadband schemes.
This section of the survey will ask residents:
- If you do not use a home broadband service, why not?
- Have you had to change your use of applications or internet browsing because of poor broadband?
- Have you changed package, supplier, or technology because of poor broadband?
- If you changed technology to improve broadband, which technology did you change from and to?
- Have you explored the use of fixed wireless services in your area?
- Have you explored the use of satellite services for broadband?
- Where relevant, have you:
- Explored new broadband services that are expected to arrive in your area
- Explored a community broadband scheme
- Applied for a broadband connectivity voucher
- Have you been advised that you are potentially eligible to request an improved connection through the national broadband Universal Service Obligation scheme, provided by BT?
(See notes below to explain community and voucher broadband schemes and the Universal Service Obligation)
This section of the survey will ask businesses:
- Have you experienced any of the following constraints in adopting digital connectivity for your firm, beyond any connectivity challenges:
- Finding external digital support
- Accessing appropriate digital training
- Recruiting people with digital skills
- Existing workforce lacks digital skills
- Other
- Have you changed package, supplier, or technology because of poor broadband?
- If you changed technology to improve broadband, which technology did you change from and to?
- Have you explored the use of fixed wireless services in your area?
- Have you explored the use of satellite services for broadband?
- Where relevant, have you:
- Explored new broadband services that are expected to arrive in your area
- Explored a community broadband scheme
- Applied for a broadband connectivity voucher
- Have you been advised that you are potentially eligible to request an improved connection through the national broadband Universal Service Obligation scheme, provided by BT?
(See notes below to explain community and voucher broadband schemes and the Universal Service Obligation)
Notes:
A community broadband scheme is when residents and businesses come together and ask a broadband supplier to cost providing full fibre to their area. Government subsidy is often used towards the funding of the schemes.
Broadband vouchers: The government has made available funding for residents and businesses in rural areas to have improved broadband via a voucher scheme. Each household and business can claim a voucher of a certain value towards improving broadband. Broadband suppliers will take charge of overseeing a scheme using voucher funding.
Universal Service Obligation (USO). This is a national scheme run by BT and OFCOM. It is there to offer help to anyone who receives internet speeds of less than 10 Mbps. It usually offers a 4G Home Hub broadband solution but if that is not possible due to poor mobile connectivity, it will offer a subsidy towards full fibre installation.
