The government’s Digital Britain Interim Report has been launched. The press release is available here, and the report itself is available here. The BSG press release responding to the launch is available here.

We have produced an initial analysis of the report in a special edition of our newsletter. We are keen to hear the views and opinions of members of the BSG community, and anyone else with an interest in the broadband value chain, on the issues raised in the report.

If you have any views you wish to share please either comment on this blog or send us an email. We will pass on all views to the government’s Digital Britain team.

While we wait for the publication of the government’s interim Digital Britain Report, the annual ECTA (European Competitive Telecommunications Association) Regulatory Scorecard was released yesterday, and as last year Ofcom scored the highest of all European NRAs.

Ofcom generally scored strongly in most areas. However, for economic market conditions for broadband, Ofcom ranked as ‘neutral’, rather than ’strong’. Only Portugal and France achieved a strong rating.

The scores are based on responses to surveys that review: the overall institutional environment; key enablers for market entry and network roll out; the NRA’s regulatory processes; application of regulation by the NRA; and regulatory and market outcomes.

This week saw NESTA publish a policy paper advising that investment in fibre-optic broadband would be a vital part of the infrastructure of our digital economy as it emerges from the recession.

NESTA go on to suggest that ‘a spectrum for speed swap’ could be used to incentivise deployment of universal next generation broadband.

So can next generation broadband play a role in our economic recovery?

There has been a lot of lobbying for NGA in the US, with the incoming Obama administration promising investment in broadband as part of the stimulus. However, the latest statements from the Obama camp suggest that these investments will be restricted to expanding current broadband access to ‘unserved and underserved’ areas.

This may make more sense as an immediate stimulus. Having the government invest in NGA now, on either side of the atlantic, would be unlikely to help the economy in the short term. The lead in times for these sorts of projects, not to mention the time for deployment, would make it unlikely to have an immediate impact - in short, any project would not be ’shovel-ready’.

However, the government needs to keep a watch on NGA investment. We are yet to fully see the impact of the current economic conditions on investment decisions. If investment fails to materialise, the government may need to step in, in some form - a conclusion made by the Caio review.

It also may be true that the window of opportunity for government to make an impact on investment decisions is closing, given the fiscal austerity planned for the future.

Finally, there is a strong case for ensuring that, when the economy does begin to recover, we have spent wisely and invested in infrastructure that can support future growth - and most would consider NGA to be such an investment.

This is a challenging issue, and worthy of debate. We wait with interest to see what ideas will be discussed in the government’s Digital Britain Report this week.

Peter Shearman, Policy Manager, BSG

At an event yesterday Communications Minister Stephen Carter discussed the idea of a universal broadband commitment of a 2Mbps service to be available to every household that wants it, by 2012. The commitment could be included in the interim Digital Britain Report, expected to be published at the end of January.

The proposal would see a reform of the existing universal service obligation on BT, and would make use of wireless networks as well as fixed to deliver the service. The idea follows similar recent developments in other markets such as France, Ireland and Finland.

Whilst this is clearly a significant development, many will ask what it means for next generation broadband deployment in the UK? In November last year BSG Chairman Kip Meek outlined the idea of a universal service commitment for broadband in his speech to the BSG Reception. Meek’s idea sought to bring together policy in current and next generation broadband - a universal service for current broadband while encouraging investment in next generation broadband.

If the aims of the digital Britain initiative are to deliver economic as well as social benefits then a coherent approach will be required that addresses both objectives. While Carter referenced the importance of enabling investment in next generation services, it remains unclear, what, if anything, the DBR interim report will say on the matter.

Peter Shearman, Policy Manger, BSG

Building on Conservative Party Leader David Cameron’s commitment to broadband earlier in the week, last Friday Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt set out the Conservative Party’s views on next generation broadband.

The main commitment in Hunt’s speech was to re-iterate Cameron’s commitment to bring next-generation broadband to the majority of the population within five years, and to provide near-universal coverage as soon as possible after that.

Hunt went on to say that deployment should be market-led, and that the role of the public sector was as a facilitator of investment. In conjunction with their broadband policy, the Conservatives will conduct a review of the creative industries, details of which will be released soon.

The full speech is available here.

Peter Shearman, Policy Manager, BSG

Ofcom yesterday published a report on broadband speeds in the UK.

The report is a first for Ofcom in that it is based on actual line testing, rather than consumer perception surveys, and builds on the work of the SamKnows team, who produced an earlier report last year.

Alongside the headline numbers, the report identifies the lack of understanding many consumers have about broadband, and particularly the factors that can impact the speeds they receive - an issue we have raised previously on this blog.

It will not be news to many that you are unlikely to receive the headline speed that you sign up for. However, speed can be impacted by a variety of factors, such as in-home wiring or your choice of router, which ISPs have little or no control over (and can be remedied by the consumer themselves).

This isn’t necessarily the fault of the consumer - they should not need to understand to a technical level the service they are buying. It can partly be attributed to the marketing focus on speed by ISPs, and we are beginning to see ISPs market their services on other attributes such as bit caps, which may help.

However, the crux of the issue is that broadband is a difficult service to accurately buy and sell. The actual service received is partly out of the control of the service provider, which creates difficulties and confusion for consumers.

If we are to have a proper public debate about the future of broadband (and now would be the time, given the interest being shown by our senior politicians) a more informed consumer is an important requirement.

The Caio Review recognised this, which is why one of its recommendations was for ISPs to make public their traffic management policies - consumers would then be given more information about their service, particularly how it is likely to operate at peak times.

This Ofcom report also seems to recognise this, laying bare as it does the capabilities and limitations of the network. We need to continue along the path of an increasingly informed public debate.

Peter Shearman, Policy Manager, BSG

It may have been the holiday season, but broadband was rarely off the news cycle in one form or another, so here’s a round-up of some of the most interesting stories from the Christmas period.

Most interestingly, David Cameron yesterday committed the Conservatives to fibre optic ‘high speed broadband’ for the majority of the population within five years, and, ‘to as near as possible, universal coverage within ten years’. A bold promise, although we are still waiting to see the detail of this policy. This followed Gordon Brown suggesting in an Observer interview that high-speed broadband could play a similar role to investment in infrastructure during previous recessions. Prior to this, also in the Observer, Professor Christopher Bishop, chief scientist at Microsoft Research Cambridge had suggested that the government could ‘do no better than rewire the nation with fibre optics’ if it was looking for an infrastructure project to stimulate the economy.

At the same time, we were given an indication of what could be included in Stephen Carter’s Digital Britain report. In an article in The Times, a universal broadband service of 2Mbps was suggested, alongside a comprehensive reform of the existing universal service obligations. Carter’s interim report is due to be published this month, with the full report later this year.

Gordon Brown wasn’t the only global leader to reference broadband over Christmas. President-elect Barack Obama spoke of his plan to provide a stimulus to the US digital economy, including improving broadband and increasing take-up. He described the US performance on broadband as ‘unacceptable’.

Staying in the States, the Recording Industry Association of America has decided to abandon its strategy of suing individual downloaders of copyright material. Instead it will adopt a more constructive approach, working with ISPs to identify those who upload copyright material in a move similar to the approach being taken in the UK.

Coming back to the UK, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham made headlines with an interview in the Telegraph in which he suggested that cinema-style age ratings could be applied to the Internet, and said he wanted to work with Obama’s administration to develop international deceny rules for English-language websites. This has caused an interesting debate to occur, with many comment boards filling up in response, and the majority not in favour.

Finally, fulfilling one of the recommendations of the Caio Review, the Valuation Office Agency set out how it will rate fibre in next generation broadband deployments. This is a timely clarification by the VOA, and although containing few surprises, helps to remove some of the uncertainty facing potential investors in NGA.

Peter Shearman, Policy Manager, BSG