https://www.publicsectorexecutive.com/articles/two-million-homes-and-businesses-benefit-ps5bn-broadband-upgrade?utm_source=Public%20Sector%20Executive&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12564310_Newsletter%202%20August&dm_i=IJU,7HAOM,LJ01X9,UEU21,1

This link takes you to the announcement made by Government for the rollout of the Gigabit scheme. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DMS) has also published a paper: Project Gigabit delivery plan, Summer Update (02/08/21)

I have long been an advocate of this scheme, working with a relatively few number of fellow councillors across the political spectrum at HCC. This picture shows a public meeting held in 2016 to raise this and discuss with local residents. It has improved for some people, but for others, it’s still on the agenda today!

Locally, together with Yvette Riley and Cllr Margot Power, in 2020/21, we have been supporting local Community Fibre Partnership Organisers to bring their schemes to fruition. led ‘teach in sessions’ for groups based on her experience. Margot got together the organisers and I continued to be the ‘squeaky wheel’ at HCC!

This included asking for a Select Committee interview with Openreach who were proving very hard to work with. It seems they were overwhelmed by the response to the scheme not just in Hampshire but countrywide.

This programme came to a grinding halt in February when the CFP scheme programme stopped taking any more applications. A new programme was announced, but there’s been a period of not knowing exactly where to go next.

As the county councillor with perhaps more schemes in-the-making than most other divisions, I lobbied for a new budget to support our local schemes on which the Organisers had worked so hard.

So I was really pleased when Hampshire County Council agreed to support the scheme again (on 13th July 2021) with a new budget of £1m for 21/22 (the previous budget was all but spent by April 2021) Although broadband provision is a Government responsibility, HCC supports its residents and businesses with a new Top Up scheme worth £1500 over household in addition to the Government voucher scheme of £1500 per household.

Good news- all those local CFP schemes should be able to get the green light now.

But bearing in mind how much we all need the internet, I wonder how far this new budget will reach?

Ironically, the money provided by HCC to make these top-ups comes from a ‘payback system’.

Hampshire County Councils also commissions work on the most rural communities through another DCMS scheme for faster broadband to areas with very little or none. When they are up and running, most of these schemes are very popular and Openreach (and other providers) have to pay back a ‘popularity’ sum to Hampshire. Surely this shows infrastructure providers that putting in a fast network is just good commercial sense? It shouldn’t need subsidy?

Or should we be nationalising the infrastructure? There’s a thought. We often say ‘ we wouldn’t buy a house with just a dripping tap, so why do we buy one with poor/no broadband? Perhaps there’s a case for all utilities to be nationally funded and run? Views welcome!

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