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The myth of Very Hard to Reach

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The myth of Very Hard to Reach

As the rollout of broadband infrastructure continues its drive to meet the Government target of 85% gigabit coverage by 2025, and near 100% by 2030, attention will inevitably turn to those properties which get described as ‘very hard to reach’. But is there such thing as a very hard to reach premise?

Author: Steve Smith, Head of Smart Places at FarrPoint

Very Hard to Reach (VHTR) isn't a new concept

Of course, the concept of (this will open in a new window)very hard to reach isn’t a new one as those in the few percent still unable to access superfast broadband speeds, and the 1% who are still unable to receive even 10Mbps, know only too well.

Despite successive rounds of commercial deployment and public intervention it seems these properties have indeed proved very hard to reach. Having waited over a decade now for decent broadband to reach them, they find themselves again facing the very real prospect of being missed in the current round of deployment.

With this in mind, it’s probably worth tackling the myth of very hard to reach head on.

There's no such thing as 'very hard to reach'

With modern broadband infrastructure technologies available such as full fibre, fixed wireless access, 4G / 5G and of course the ever-expanding coverage available from Low Earth Orbit satellites, there is no such thing as very hard to reach from a technical perspective.

Very hard to reach is instead used as a proxy for the real issue which is that these properties can be very expensive to reach, either because of the level of engineering required to build a network to these properties, or due to the installation and ongoing subscription costs associated with satellite connectivity which have historically been typically higher than that of fixed connectivity. Add to this that many of these same areas are also poorly served by mobile connectivity, its easy to fall into the trap of labelling them as very hard to reach.

So, the question then is how much are we willing to spend to reach these properties and ensure that no one is left behind in the increasingly digitally connected world we all live?

There’s no simple answer to the question as commercial infrastructure providers need to be able to make a profit so are unlikely to invest the significant outlay to reach these properties which may never provide a return on their investment. Equally any public intervention faces the same problem, how do you demonstrate value for money for the public purse when the cost of reaching these properties is potentially so high?

Imagine a scenario where the fire service, police and ambulance served only 99%...

It’s a strange predicament for policymakers to reconcile as there are many other examples where providing public services to citizens in these properties is more expensive. An obvious, if extreme example, would be the emergency services. Imagine a scenario where the fire service, ambulance or police only served 99% of the UK because the other 1% cost too much in fuel to reach, resulting in services stopping at villages where there were sufficient properties to make it worth their while and not being willing to go out to more remote properties due to the time and additional cost it would incur.

Of course, that wouldn’t be palatable, and I’d argue that we shouldn’t accept leaving these properties behind digitally either.

One of the most significant lessons of the past few years has been that digital connectivity is no longer a luxury, its an essential part of people’s lives, and where it existed people were able to work, learn and remain connected to the outside world, even when they were physically unable to go about their lives in their usual way.

Shifting from 'almost all' to 'all'

So, the real question then is how we shift the focus from ensuring the almost all of the UK has gigabit-capable infrastructure, and in many cases a choice of more than one due to the increasing overbuild in commercially attractive areas, to making sure everyone has the level of connectivity they need to participate in a digital world.

I’m hopeful that the mix of commercial deployment and public intervention will get there, however I think there is still work to be done and inevitably it will fall to Local Authorities to help find solutions to the problem within their area. They have the local knowledge needed to find the most appropriate solution for communities they serve.

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