Public sector bodies to help speed up broadband

Public sector organisations could be urged to join a scheme that would see them become ‘anchor’ tenants for faster broadband networks in parts of the country where speeds are poor, it has been reported.

The Financial Times said the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has called for evidence from the telecoms industry as to how public sector buildings like council offices, libraries, schools, NHS premises, police authorities and GP surgeries could act as “demand aggregators” for the surrounding areas.

“The government would like to explore taking further local approaches to public sector demand aggregation, where local bodies use public sector buildings as ‘anchor’ customers in a way that enables the market to extend coverage into surrounding local areas,” the DCMS document said.

It is thought such a scheme would encourage broadband companies including CityFibre, Hyperoptic and Gigaclear to lay fibre to compete with Openreach and Virgin Media, both of which are spending billions upgrading their own infrastructures.

The government cited Peterborough City Council, which signed a deal with CityFibre in 2013 to connect 107 public sites. “The lines were then extended to another 220 locations this year. The company laid 90km of fibre in the city and wants to use the same model to expand to dozens of cities across the UK,” the FT said.

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(Image: Kainet)