The clear focus of this year's Connected Britain 2024 conference was to capitalise on the construction of the upgraded connectivity coverage, propelled by the industry, government subsidy and innovation, and to convert build to uptake to achieve ubiquitous connectivity for everyone in the UK.
Many of the messages echoed the takeaways from the Connected North conference earlier this year, but as the new Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Sir Chris Bryant highlighted, in the midst of a challenging economic climate, falling GDP and cost of living crisis, the UK's telecoms sector and digital infrastructure are critical components.
Digital infrastructure, connectivity and innovative collaboration have never been more essential to help overcome digital poverty and deliver more cohesive, efficient and cost effective socio-economic conditions. It is also important to drive competition and financial investment in the market.
There was a real sense of enthusiasm from government, regulators and the industry to collaborate and meet those challenges and grasp the opportunities. The telecoms industry is certainly no longer in the mere conduit category.
The key takeaways include:
Coverage: Although rollout of fixed full fibre is well underway, with good progress being made to achieve the government's targets, there is still a proportion of the UK population which is not connected. What remains will require collaboration and innovation to deploy into more rural and complex areas of the UK.
Fixed fibre deployment gets more expensive in rural areas and faces other challenges like land access and wayleaves. There is a recognition that other technologies, like satellite and fixed wireless access are needed alongside fibre to overcome the barriers. Neglected (and often known) "not spots" such as rail and transport corridors, urban areas with multiple occupancy, and temporary venues for live events are complex areas, with competing stakeholder interests, which require creative innovation from industry and intervention from government to ease barriers.
Commodity: Smart data is a commodity which, if utilised correctly and sustained by good digital connectivity, has the potential to inform government decision making, which in turn has the potential to provide more cost-effective services and socio-economic conditions. For example, enhancing energy meters for optimising consumption, contributing to both personal financial savings and net-zero targets. Datacentres and the networks that connect them are critical in capitalising on artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics. The Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, anticipated later in 2024, should provide clearer direction on the framework for data sharing and utilisation of digital information as an economic growth driver to support and improve lives (with measures such as digital verification services).
Conversion and continuity: There is a role for the government and local authorities in decommissioning outdated telecoms kit and devices, in particular copper landlines and 2G, to ensure more vulnerable members of our community are not left behind. Providers will need to limit analogue only kit, consider retrofit, refurbishment, and resilience (such as battery back-ups) although this needs to be balanced with what Ofcom has previously considered proportionate and the associated cost of implementation on providers. There is also a recognition that telecoms and data centres are fundamental to the UK's infrastructure, but this also requires a real commitment to education (not only regarding legacy systems, but also the benefits of full fibre and sharing smart data), developing a skilled workforce, and breaking down the digital divide.
Collaboration: There was a real drive for government, local authorities, and both wholesale and retail operators to work together and consider stackable use cases to allow more effective and sustainable telecoms deployment. Regulators play a vital role in helping to bust existing and emerging barriers, including encouraging operators to share infrastructure like poles and ducts. The role partnerships will play an important part in tackling digital exclusion.
Community: Digital inclusion is still a key issue, with an estimated 1.5 million people living in digital poverty and 2% of children only having mobile access (with those figures deteriorating for the poorest 20% of the population). Age, financial status or lack of skills are inhibitors to economic growth, with lack of connectivity and access to digital devices is another barrier. While 8.3% or 380,000 of the UK's vulnerable population are on social tariffs, awareness of the availability of these tariffs is low and even then may still be unaffordable for those who are faced with a "heat or eat" dilemma. Engagement with the public by industry and government (at local and national levels) is needed to ensure connection with purpose at grassroots level within communities.
Cellular (5G): The UK Government aims to provide 5G to all populated areas by 2030. The mobile industry is being driven by customer demand for network quality and speed, increasing demand on networks for more reliable gaming, media and television and reducing the "buffering doom". There have been advances in standalone 5G (with 15 UK cities now having coverage). The government indicated an ongoing commitment to ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of innovation by improving investment conditions, cutting deployment costs and expediting both innovation driven by 5G technology and adoption of 5G through the 36 million 5G Regional Programme fund and £40 million UK Telecom Network fund. Consequently there are unique opportunities for network operators, infrastructure providers and innovators of a new wave of devices and applications, to leverage AI and smart data in the mobile network, all of which is underpinned by gigabit broadband, smart infrastructure and thoughtful deployment, to better deliver essential services to communities, such as agritech, environmental monitoring, wildlife and tourism which are important in rural areas.
Celestial(!): The UK is well positioned to exploit space, with ambitious objectives alluded to, driven by AI, smart data, connectivity from the telecoms sector. Indeed the use of satellite to provide additional connectivity from the sky and space is a renewed focus of Ofcom, with its ability to overcome coverage barriers. The supply chain will be key in pushing the boundaries of technology alongside more traditional telecommunications.
Competition: The investment environment remains challenging. Consolidation among altnets is inevitable (although the pace and picture of such consolidation is still hotly speculated). The question of valuation remaining a challenge, particularly given the challenges in converting premises passed to customers. The government has suggested that ensuring fiscal stability, light touch regulation (where appropriate) and timely, swift, evidence based decision making would be vital to ensuring a competitive market which enables the industry to monetise the network and the UK's £3 trillion tech economy. Given the current dynamic market, the timing of deregulation and when this would be appropriate remains a contentious issue and the outcome of Ofcom's 2025 report likely to be met with mixed emotions.
Commitment (security and resilience): There are complex power and telecom issues from continued access to mobile networks, environmental issues (climate change), inconsistent power backup, with no universal solution. Ofcom will be a key force to address the resilience of telecoms while ensuring a competitive market and setting recommendations for a diverse supply chain, while the government has responded with a £250 million Open Networks Research and Development Fund to support delivery of 5G supply chain diversification.
Capitalise: In the round, there was a clear recognition of the opportunities and ways to capitalise on telecoms and digital infrastructure, including commercial investment, a clearer regulatory framework and breaking down of barriers, with support of the regulator, Ofcom. The new government has suggested a number of measures to drive progress in the telecom sector, including a mobile market review, streamlined planning regulations to facilitate growth, and the rollout of the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible.
Flexible permitting for street works, better access arrangements, and collaboration with operators will be encouraged through a new code of practice for siting and pole siting. Additionally, a £70 million innovation to market fund dedicated to establishing research and development hubs and supporting 16 business consortia and international partnerships with India, Korea, Australia, US, Canada and Japan are also in the pipeline.
In conclusion, this year's conference highlighted the essential role of digital infrastructure in tackling the UK's socio-economic challenges and bridging the digital divide. While progress in full fibre and 5G expansion is evident, challenges remain in reaching underserved and rural areas.
Collaboration across government, industry, and regulators is vital to driving innovation and adoption and key initiatives are required to enhance connectivity, harness emerging technologies and sustain the UK's leadership in the global telecoms industry.
If you have any questions or would like to delve deeper into any of these insights, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
