255,075 reasons to get FTTP (Fibre to the Premises)
08:45 in guest post by Thane Brooker
If community-led deployments are to succeed on a large scale, there must be a clearly thought out sales process and all residents must fully understand the benefits and value that FTTP will bring to them before they are asked for their support and commitment.
There has been much talk of how superfast broadband would enable forthcoming applications such as telemedicine and high-definition 3D movies on demand, and how fibre would be an investment in our children’s future. However, while this is all true and exciting, it is non-specific and unlikely to convince the average family with already reasonable broadband (by today’s standards) to dig up their garden.
What we need to explain is how fast symmetric broadband, with free inter- and intra-Parish connectivity at 1Gbps, will add value and enrich our lives on a personal and household level immediately and in clear monetary terms.
This post is a first attempt to list some of the tangible benefits that households, schools, and businesses would realistically receive within 6 months of installation. The ideas listed here will form the basis of a sales process that we can use to will the community and obtain the commitments necessary for success, so please add all your ideas to the comments at the bottom of this post.
No idea should be considered too whacky or silly, as long as it is realistic. Remember, 255,075 people live in rural Cumbria, and if an idea convinces just one person to commit effort or a wayleave, it is a worthwhile idea.
Here are some ideas that may strike a chord with residents and encourage them to dig:
1. Increased property prices (this needs to be quantified/cited – any Estate Agents here to help?).
2. Can watch BBC iPlayer HD without stuttering.
3. Can stream iTunes collections/DVD collections with friends and family in neighbouring Parishes.
4. Tele-vet service (many consider telemedicine to be something the NHS should organise and therefore out of local community control, but a local tele-vet service is something that could realistically be offered to local farmers/horse owners).
5. HD Skype to friends and family in other areas/countries with fast symmetric broadband.
6. New classroom activities introduced (this will need to be more specific–any teachers here?).
7. Cheap access to local off-site backup (for backing up video, pictures, music, data)–data wouldn’t need to hit backhaul and could simply be sent to a removable hard drive at a friend’s house, or a more professional service offered by the local techy.
8. Local techys could offer new services to local residents to generate additional income streams (any local techys here with ideas?).
9. Any teens/children (and adults!) would appreciate low-latency for online gaming with friends.
10. Holiday homes and caravan parks could generate additional revenue by charging for fast Internet access.
11. Guest homes/B&Bs could market themselves to a different (and higher paying) clientele.
12. Anybody requiring care could have a direct, full-time video link to a carer in a neighbouring Parish.
13. Training and certification on how to lay and test fibre could help unemployed people obtain employment.
14. If the business model was right, the Parish could obtain a regular income from ISPs paying to offer their services over the infrastructure.
15. If the business model was right, the high (but intangible) value of owning “the last mile” could be realised through an IPO.
16. No more hassle: no more microfilters, no need to test different ADSL modems with different chipsets to get the best performance, and no need to remove the BT faceplate each time there is a fault (note: such hassle is likely to get worse as higher frequencies are pushed over further distances using BET). Unlike ADSL, FTTP typically works or it doesn’t, and speed doesn’t drop off due to incompatibilities or interference.
17. Neighbourhood watch: anybody concerned about crime could use the network to monitor their property from a remote location.
18. Community radio (any budding DJs? Or could this be offered as a practical exercise in schools?).
How will fast, reliable, symmetric and low-latency Internet access with free 1Gbps inter- and intra-Parish connectivity directly benefit you, your household, your neighbour, Mr Smith from the next Parish and Mrs Jones the local business owner?
I am always annoyed by the introduction of an acronym in the expection that readers/viewers will know the words behind the letters of the acronym. “FTTP” …take this to 100 people on the High St. and it is unlikely that few will readily “translate”.
So a smooth entry into the community will NOT be aided by blasts of acronyms.
I will concede once the words have been used, with the acronym in brackets then it can be convenient to use the acronym.
So clever people should adopt their writings so the community understand.
For the benefit of those 99% of people on the High St. “FTTP” stands for Fibre to the Premises. Perhaps Thane Brooker might have explained that in the first para.
So a plea for script from those with knowledge to be in simpler form
P.S.
I should clarify that, apart from the “FTTP” insert, the content of the posting by Thane Booker was excellent.
It is good to set our reasons so clearly and numbered
Malcolm,
I’m not sure if saying “Fibre to the Premises” rather than “FTTP”, or even “low latency, synchronous Internet access with 1Gb inter- and intra-parish connectivity”, is going to mean any more to a non technical person.
You’re absolutely right though; marketing is key and a lot of work needs to go into that before hitting the village streets, either for research or sales.
Anybody who wants to compete with BT Infinty has to have their own Adam, Jane, Joe and Lucy. I’m going to suggest we put together some volunteers to film a short and entertaining introduction to the different types of Internet connectivity on offer, and the pros and cons of each. If anybody would like to be involved with this please drop me a line.
Hello Thane,
A long needed post bringing the Social and Economic realities of what ever priority broad band roll out is proposed as a result of the procurement procedure which is about to start in the new year.
If Rory, Louis, or Duncan is reading this might it not be the spur they need to do some gathering statistically of community preferences.
The broad Band champions are by self selection completely committed to this or that technology, but, our steering group has as many preferences as there are members as to the most useful outcome, seen from the point of view of each household in our respective communities.
Which is a long winded way of saying we don’t know?
The idea of a long list is a good start.
A suggestion to make the list more relevant when it is taken to the next stage is the sampling within the community,
At this point who favours randomness as a statistical tool see……..
http://www.ehow.com/about_5106424_importance-sampling-statistical-analysis.html.
Or are we missing the point of this important post?
KrC&A
By far and away the greatest lasting benefit offered by fibre is not technical at all.
The replacement of copper wires with fibre optics offers the opportunity to rebalanced the terms of trade in favour of the customer.
Guy,
I’m trying to gather a list of tangible benefits. For example, my neighbour has just spent a fortune landscaping his garden, and he wasn’t too impressed when he was asked if he would dig a trench and lay fibre for broadband he doesn’t use much anyway. Saying “fibre will rebalance the terms of trade in his favour” probably won’t cut it, because it isn’t something he would relate to.
Could you phrase this in such a way that he would understand more clearly how it would benefit his household? Maybe give a real example.
Thane,
point taken - plain language matters most
At the bottom of page 3 of http://nextgenus.net/ncc.pdf is an example of what doing things differently might mean in practice - the community interest test.
By building these fibre networks from new then each local community has the chance to consider how they are run, at what cost, in whose interests and benefit.
This opportunity may not happen again this century, which is why it is important for everyone to understand the choices available today and how those will affect the broadband options available to future generations.
Colin,
The point of the post is that Broadband Champions working within small parishes of approximately 100 residents and businesses can quite feasibly knock on every door and help each member of the community work out how they would personally benefit from FTTP. Such personal level of engagement is going to be necessary for community-led projects to achieve the 80% sign-up that has been previously mentioned.
The list of ideas is to arm the Broadband Champions so that when they speak to the residents, they can engage them and suggest ways they would benefit rather than simply saying “How would FTTP benefit you?”.
Certainly the results could analysed and statistics fed back to a higher level, and it would be fascinating to see that, but that wasn’t the original intention of the post.
Survey monkey can be set up to ask sampling questions randomly - I just thought I would throw that in
Also Libby might be able to provide a means of using a survey monkey account plus I might have the ability to get survey data plotted onto a map. Just purely the thoughts popping into my head with no real idea of the why’s or the when’s etc.
Hello Guy,
Your perceptive comment takes us straight back to the potential political empowerment of each of us, which high speed broad band brings completing the trinity of Social, Economic, and Political inputs and outcomes.
Spot on as usual.
KrC&A
Hello C&A,
Social Economic and Political - a trinity indeed and 90% the latter required to realise the rewards.
Perhaps the key CCC question to answer is how far does rural broadband go in saving Eddie Martin £50M this year…
Hello Thane
One of the outcomes which might be on the list but needs a little off the wall thinking, before being added, is as follows.
Those members of the community who have no internet link but who are completely at home with the use of their television “TV remote control literate” might well come on board if the whole high speed broadband offer came through their television and was controlled by their remote, which holds no fear from 2 to102 year olds.
One such scheme is…
http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/intouch/aboutintouch.shtml
We now need a technical wonk, to tell us if this high speed broadband can or cannot be done through their televisions as part of the offer.
This would cover the considerable numbers in all our communities, who resemble “Brian and his wife” in Kate Norman’s blog.
To add the World Wide Web with access through your remote, video conferencing with the grandchildren or just friends must make sense. Even speech recognition to use Google/ email, or is this just a day dream?
KrC&A
To me the value of installing a fibre to my home is that it is a one off job. It means me and my family and business will have a connection that is fit for purpose for the future as well. It will just work.
Hundreds round here have spent a lot of time and money trying to get copper connections and failed. I would hate to see it all happen again if cabinets are installed and everyone thinks they can get a connection to them. Also we have the hassle of people buying into the ‘up to 40 meg’ lark when all many will get is 5 meg and the moaning that will bring.
The main benefit of fibre to the premises is the synchronous speed. Lightening fast uploads mean we can deliver quality content to the world. We can stream our own channels. Tourism would greatly benefit. Webcams such as Martin’s at Keswick would show how beautiful a place we live in. We could also use webcams to keep an eye on our stock, garages, workshops and diesel tanks as well as our streets and homes.
Another thing not on the list above is mobile. With femtocells our mobile phones will start to work everywhere in cumbria, and we could lease capacity to masts and major mobile companies. That would bring in more income to help more people get the fibre.
We already use whiteboards to share lessons with other rural cluster schools because they all have good CLEO feeds, but we can’t get the children online at home to suck content down when snowed in or off sick or to access homework or the school moodle etc. With access at every home it levels the playing field for every student, and if they are all on a local fibre network the backhaul doesn’t cost a fortune. This also means university students can come home in the holidays (many won’t due to lack of internet access) and many may even stay in the county instead of moving to the cities or abroad for work.
The cost saving if we own our own infrastructure will be a great benefit to the people of Cumbria, the money we pay for our internet will stay local, the blue pound theory.
I am sorry I can’t type this in a list, I tend to talk in paragraphs rather than sentences sorry…
Great list btw.
chris
Chris,
Good points. I’ll summarise as list items (please feel free to correct if I’ve missed or misunderstood any points):
19. Relatives (especially younger relatives) may be more inclined to visit if good quality broadband was available (e.g. Uni students returning to the family home during holidays).
20. Homework for school children would be easier.
21. Any tourist business in a beautiful area could operate a live webcam to encourage visitors.
22. Investment in fibre is a one-off job and is a proven technology - installing fibre now will avoid future hassle and upgrading for at least the next 25 years.
Extending 17 to include specifics such as monitoring stock, garages, workshops and Diesel tanks.
23. Vodafone Sure Signal, Orange UMA (and other mobile operator femtocell solutions) would work reliably.
24. If being snowed-in became a regular problem, schools could broadcast lessons via live webcam.
Fibre to the premises - for the ignorant amongst us, what is the actual problem with getting fibre to each house?
My landline comes from a junction box in a manhole about 15 yards from my house. Therefore, there is ductwork which might be reused for fibre at least as far as that. The last 15 yards is a buried cable. As this cable was put in in the early 1970s I suppose it wasn’t ducted and can’t be used as a pull-through. Even so, that last 15 yards of groundwork wouldn’t exactly break anybody’s bank. If you are stuck up the far end of Martindale, I guess there might be a big problem with the cabling, but loads of our villages will be much easier propositions. I suspect we need to hear from some cable jointers rather than just signalling gurus.
Merry Christmas, Allan Steward
Hello Allan,
the only problem with the existing ducts and manholes is that BT owns them.
There is something called a PIA (Passive Infrastructure Access) consultation and reference offer from BT Openreach due in January, which might shed some further light on the matter. Or not.
Hi Guy, I have been on the CCC have your say site and have been asking how much rural superfast broadband would save CCC. Eddie Martin’s response has been that it’s too hard for him to understand: It’s a long way above my payscale too but at least I’m trying. Could anyone else get in there and add their two pennies worth? If we can persuade them that it could save money then that would be to all of our advantage as the council might be more open to our less othodox solutions if they were sure of their own resultant savings. sorry if this doesn’t really add to your list Thane as we think the list is a good idea. How about the heading of saving Council tax rises if they are saved money?
Hello Aileen,
The precise figure I must leave to those more knowledgeable of the detailed costs, however there is typically an order of magnitude less cost moving from face-to-face, to telephone to web-based interaction between government and citizen.
So for example a £10 meeting becomes a £1 telephone call becomes a 10p web transaction.
The difficulty for government is that until everyone can reasonably be supposed to be able to get online then instead of cost savings the actual costs can be inflated by the need to keep offline and online systems running in parallel.
Now given a readily-available local point of internet access, the Digital Village Pump e.g., then a way to encourage everyone online is to apply extra charges for the alternatives.
This would of course be an unpopular move…
I might suggest you take a look at the research done by RaceOnline2012 although not always popular there are some solid numbers that you can pull from their pulications
http://raceonline2012.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/race-online-2012s-manifesto-for-a-networked-nation/
and
http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/latest-news/2010/07/pm-backs-race-online-2012-campaign-53250
and
http://raceonline2012.org/
and
http://raceonline2012.org/research << This is where all the linked research is held - I can dig out some bits that might be of interest for you tomorrow Thane.
Just remembered the Digital Inclusion research - PWC Price Water Cooper here is a link to a related party to RaceOnline2012 - UK Online which puts the outcomes of the research into much more understandable language: http://www.ukonlinecentres.com/corporate/news-and-information/uk-online-centres-news/1395-new-research-makes-digital-inclusion-an-economic-imperative.html
I have been pondering the ‘Selling the tangible value of FTTP’ opportunity over the holiday – including Christmas day!
It easier for me to start with selling to my generation ‘the wrinkles’ (over 60’s).
As webmaster for Penrith and North Lakes U3A http://www.penrithandnorthlakesu3a.org.uk/ I have gleaned some market knowledge.
We have 450 members generally well educated, independent and a majority A/B/C1 consumers living in areas of easy access broadband.
Only 40% of the members elect to receive the bi-monthly newsletter by email.
The 60% majority are terrified to use a computer simply because they imagine they will struggle to use a keyboard/mouse - after they have stumped up £500 to buy the hardware and 12 months ISP service – which for many is a major installation problem. Then they have to pluck up the courage to turn the monster on – and wait 5 minutes for Microsoft to say hi.
There is a simple way to remove these barriers to FTTH
1. Build computers into TV’s (many of the latest TV’s have wifi connections to internet)
2. Banish Microsoft/Intel cartel to the museum - replace MS OS with instant startup Linux and simple to use cloud apps (e.g. Google docs, hotmail)
3. TV media to provide ISP services (free if they consider the commercial benefits available to an ISP).
4. Cable TV will become the norm.
I reckon we are at most only 2-3 years away from the TV/Computer revolution and it will be driven by Cable TV.
That’s that sorted - now all we have to do is sell the future - SIMPLES!
I would use the same technique I have used to sell elitist Microsoft/Intel business solutions for 30 years:-
1. Speak only to the decision maker
2. Establish their need(s) e.g telephone; TV; comms to friends, children, grandchildren
3. Establish and discuss the reasons for their fears, envy, greed (the primary emotions we all experience when buying anything).
4. Layout the solution(s) including options with costs e.g. do nothing; cooperative installed FTTP; and BT FTTC
5. Close the sale – whichever solution.
Do’s and Don’ts
Do not use the word ‘Broadband’ – Do use the word Digital Services – it covers all media and does not imply the use of ‘computers’.
Do not mention the use of HDTV to communicate or monitor – too many of my generation have read ‘1984’ by George Orwell.
Well 1. Build computers into TV’s (many of the latest TV’s have wifi connections to internet)
Will be coming into existence this year with YouView and others.
2. Banish Microsoft/Intel cartel to the museum – replace MS OS with instant startup Linux and simple to use cloud apps (e.g. Google docs, hotmail)
The Google OS seems to do what you mention here
3/4 Are probably not q’s that I know the responses too
Really impressed reading all the blogposts and seeing all these suggestions and skillsets coming together. We can do this. Keep up the good work everyone and don’t be afraid to add your suggestions to the pot. Thane can translate them if they go on too long! I agree with digital services being a good word, a lot of the benefits to come do NOT need a computer. The brave new world awaits, lets get the fibre in and be ready for it.
Thane - how did you calculate 1G as the bandwidth required for the various services you list? Most can happen how for those with a few meg broadband. And broadcast HD TV only needs about 10M.
Guy mentions extra charges for non online use, this is exactly what internet based gas and electricity tariffs are about.
ps watch out for powerline broadband popping up again, there is a trial in Liverpool starting.
Somerset,
My reference to 1Gbps is the bandwidth FTTP is capable of delivering, not the bandwidth each service would require. You are right that some services would run on solutions other than FTTP, but for the very general and non-technical purposes of this post, I think it is OK to include these.
I think the whole point of building the infrastructure properly with fibre instead of settling for cabinets and copper is that future needs are also catered for with fibre, as the service can deliver whatever is needed. If we don’t build in the capacity now we won’t get another bite at this cherry.
And the same reasoning applies across the whole of the UK.
Chris,
Yes, of course.
If the Government is going to spend our money building an infrastructure that is going to last 25+ years, they should ensure it is capable of delivering at least 10,000Mbps in both directions to cope with future demand. To spend money on an infrastructure that delivers only 2-30Mbps in one direction is going to be a waste of money.
It is hoped the list of “available now” applications gathered in this post will encourage people with no foresight to ask for FTTP.
Thane - please be careful, some will say 40M will work now for virtually all the applications listed. Have you discussed this with those in the first 2/3, find some concerns that you can quote.
Still concerned for your 3780km dig costs…
I wonder - If younger people knew that possible jobs could be created the gaming and creative industries in this county if NGA were available for businesses to tap into if they would like to work in that industry over some others. Sorry possibly off topic - Might have a think about what industries a world class data infrastructure could bring to an area …
Somerset,
Don’t worry too much about the 1Gbps capability to begin with. I would guess that FTTP will deliver initial Internet speeds equivalent to FTTC, perhaps even less for small community funded projects that can’t afford fast backhaul. The important thing is that over 25 years, FTTP will still be able to deliver whereas a copper solution will not.
The more important thing to note is that FTTP is synchronous. It is just as fast to upload as it is to download. The Internet is a distributed network and its growth and development is being strangled by the majority of consumers having such appallingly slow upload speeds. If you consider the computing power and storage the average home PC has now, I cannot even begin to comprehend what distributed computing applications may be developed if everybody had fast synchronous connectivity.
From a community perspective (important as we are discussing rural broadband), FTTP can offer free communication between premises in each Parish, and between connected Parishes. Local communication does not need to hit backhaul, so it can happen at 1Gbps from the outset. I am sure this opens many possibilities, especially for organisations that work together such as Schools. FTTP is the only technology that will deliver 1Gbps connectivity in this manner.
With regards to what the first 2/3 think, their infrastructure is not being built by Public Money so it should not be a concern on this forum. I am sure that once Rural areas get FTTP and the first 2/3 see the benefits of FTTP, the Incumbents will quickly roll out FTTP to them as there will be sufficient demand. The Rural areas will have broken the chicken-and-egg cycle.
Sommerset - What do you think about how the business end of the economics could affect the requirement / need for symmetrical? In fact - forget it - I’ll start another topic on this elsewhere and leave this thread for the 255,075 reasons to get FTTP - or is it relavant for job creation and stopping the brain drain from the county?
2 Links from the news that might be of interest:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/02/rory-stewart-lakeland-broadband-revolution
&
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/12/2011_in_tech.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
“We must ensure that the vulnerable are not excluded; that alternative methods of communication, from letters to buses, continue to be supported and that the community networks do not become new monopolies. The technological, commercial, financial and legal problems are vast.”
That First Mile community FttH network can be anything other than monopolies is unavoidable.
If we accept that for BT at least it is difficult to justify commercially investing into rural areas to provide better Digital Services, then once any community has FttH built and in service then there are no revenues available for a second network to pay back the cost of building it.
This is why it is so important to ensure that the interests of the customer are put first and why the CIC approach is so attractive.
One positive benefit would be the introduction of a community based live streaming video service as provided by http://www.ustream.tv. The potential for tourism, advertising local services, broadcasting local and specialised interests etc is enormous. The set up costs are minimal, with all that would be needed for a basic service is access to the Internet, a decent webcam, audio equipment and either a laptop or desktop computer. The initial costs are those involved with computing hardware, but this can be vastly reduced or negligible depending on the availability of laptops etc in the locality. If I can be of some help, please contact me via my email address.
Yours sincerely
Tony Gough
Guy, do you agree with £4/m for digging and installing dig/duct/cable/fibre for 3780km. Equivalent to going to the south of France, and back! Or even for the 905km backbone.
Tony, that is a brill application, I have seen it used to bring meetings and events to people all over the world - saving massive amounts of carbon footprints. The time will come when we all use it. Good to have your input, once we get the pipes we can move into the digital age with a vengeance but not a lot of chance just yet. The future is coming though, so hang around to help people, the more we get useful input on the forum the more people will start to see the potential of next gen access. I think video is one of the most important things that will help people in remote locations, that is why we have to get connectivity to them. Currently many can’t even access websites with graphics, even a facebook page takes 5 mins to load in some areas so video doesn’t stand a chance yet. Once we get ubiquitous connectivity the fun will really start.
chris
chris - how much bandwidth does ustream need?
Hi Somerset
The answer, in technical terms, is the best bandwidth available as it determines the end quality, but in short if you can successfully use Skype without any image problems you can use ustream. If you go to http://www.ustream.com you will be able to find all the information you need.
I already have a ustream channel, but it’s not ‘live’ yet, simply due to a lack of time to get it up and running, but I’ll be using it for language teaching in the future. However, if you visit the ustream home page you will find what kind of material is being shown.
Hope that helps.
Tony
Tony, thanks. I was trying to ask how many Mb. I think Skype likes 3M, may be wrong.
Voice is just 30k so no need for 1G there!