UK Broadband Challenges in 2022

Last year the Government formerly abandoned its election promise of full fibre by 2025 and set a new target of 2030 - a full 5 years later. ?As a country we will have to wait another 9 years before everyone has the same level of access to the internet.?Given that home working will be part of many people’s lives for years to come – it will mean that this will not be an option for many people.

Subsequently a report came out about how broadband speeds are now a key factor in choosing property for homeowners and, based on my experience, it is also true for people starting businesses. ??In fact it ranked higher than the traditional good transport links – suggesting the government, with its HS2 obsession, has got its priorities wrong.?As a result many areas will continue to be disadvantaged until the end of the decade.

Ofcom claims that 62% of properties have access to full fibre to the premise – (FTTP). ?In my opinion this is a vast exaggeration and my experience of helping people suggests it is less than 20%. ?I think they are including on demand services which have massive upfront costs for people. ??Last year we saw some people being quoted over ￡100,000 for a connection.??In theory FTTP on demand is available at my house according to BT Wholesale’s website that means I have to pay for the connection which is likely to be several thousand pounds.??Ofcom should only include those sites where it is available without such costs.?I see it as an attempt to massage the figures to hide the fact that we remain the laggard of Europe.

Last year continued the rise of the Alt-Nets – new broadband providers local to a specific area.?Some of these, such as B4RN in the North West and B4RK in Kent, are community based organisations.??Others are funded by private investors.?Many of the Alt-Nets have good reviews but my suspicion is that some are just being backed in the hope of being bought out.?It looks the wild west environment that occurred with cable TV in the 1980s with lots of smaller providers gradually being absorbed into what is now Virgin.?Some alt-nets are already being acquired.

Many people have found the biggest issue of working from home is that they have to share their broadband with partners who are also home working and possible children either having remote schooling or gaming.?Apart from the security issues of all these people on the same wifi connection – some broadbands cannot cope with the demand and we see this impact on Zoom or Teams calls.??Some more enlightened businesses are paying for separate broadbands and even HMRC will allow it as a cost if you are working from home.

Unfortunately for businesses and consumers, they cannot rely on most comparison sites to see what speeds are available, as the majority of Alt-Nets are not included on them. For example my neighbouring village has Trooli throughout, offering 1Gb services, but they do not appear on any of the heavily promoted switching services websites. ?So, if you are looking for more broadband capacity at home or even looking to move make sure you check out all the alternatives.