Rural provision

Written on 1:35 PM by ooe

One of the challenges is to look at ways in which the technology can be tailored so as to economically serve more of those who do not currently have ADSL availability. The two areas that need to be tackled are:

1. Identifying a solution that is capable of meeting the risks of uncertain demand in the smaller exchanges, including both the configuration in the exchange and in connecting BT's ATM network.

2. Identifying methods to provide service to users connected to serving exchanges, yet whose copper pair is too long to support the data speeds required.

The current rollout has been achieved by targeting the top exchanges in the most populated area. As rollout focuses on the next largest exchanges, so the potential market added with the exchange will become smaller and smaller. Also, there is greater risk in smaller exchanges that there simply will not be sufficient take up of broadband to justify the investment. With the market still in an early state of development, there is little evidence to show what levels of take up might be reasonable to expect. This means in small exchanges there is a greater risk that the required user numbers will not be achieved to provide a return on the investment. Alternatively, if demand is high, it may be necessary to upgrade exchanges earlier than expected which could lead to writing off assets earlier than planned.

One solution BT introduced was Pre-Registration. The idea here being that if demand in an exchange area is uncertain, a way of measuring it would be for potential users to register an interest in broadband. This measure of interest can then be tracked against a trigger level for that exchange to be economically viable. Once the registered interest hits the trigger level BT enables the exchange. This simple process has enabled a large number of communities to receive ADSL broadband that would otherwise have looked unviable. In spite of the increased risk, equipment suppliers are making equipment available in smaller configurations. There is also the ACT NOW project, which is a partnership between BT and key public sector organisations, to assist small and medium sized businesses in Cornwall. The project involves the rollout of ADSL to 12 exchanges and it is hoped will provide a blueprint for the development of broadband services in rural Britain. The Government is also keen to stimulate the roll out of broadband to as much of the population as possible. It is therefore likely that solutions will be found to enable a much greater percentage of the population to be served by broadband exchanges.

Although it is possibly that economic and technical solutions will be identified that will lead to an increase in the number of DSL enabled exchanges, it is unlikely that such solutions will lead to all exchanges being enabled. At present, the government are tending to accept that DSL will not be universally available and rely upon the availability of alternative technology to provide broadband to those who are out of reach of DSL and cable modems such as fixed wireless or satellite.

The second problem area to be tackled was provision to users in DSL-enabled exchange areas whose lines were too long to provide the required service. The introduction of the rate adaptive IPStream and Extended Reach helped by using an ADSL feature that gets the best data rates from the line. This means that typically users who are between 3.5 and 6 km from the exchange can now get ADSL broadband.

For some specific locations (e.g. a business park), it might also be possible to achieve ADSL service through the introduction of out-stationed equipment. But it is clear that out-stationed equipment would only be of limited use in increasing the penetration. Hence it will again be necessary to rely upon alternative technologies. It is possible that either the SDSL or VDSL alternatives may provide a future solution as well as the fixed wireless and satellite.