The document discusses elements that should be included in a local digital strategy to address gaps in broadband and fiber connectivity. It outlines key topics a strategy should cover like mapping current coverage, stimulating demand, coordinating planning and permitting processes, reusing infrastructure assets, and setting goals for near-universal fiber coverage. Success is defined as securing a future-proof fiber network for 50 years that stimulates competition and supports economic growth through better connectivity. The document promotes a multi-disciplinary team approach to strategy development and notes the tools and experience the firm can provide.

1. ——
Creating Collaborative Projects

2. ——
1. Rationale and policy drivers
2. Has government policy changed?
3. Are you up for it?
4. Why you need a digital strategy
5. What are the gaps a city/regional digital strategy should aim to address?
6. What are the elements of the strategy?
7. What does success look like?
Setting the objectives

3. ——
Some people in this room – in this session! – have been here before. Big announcements,
ambitious plans, £100m+ budgets, competitions, calls, the lot.
• How has any of that previous activity and experience prepared the ground for full fibre
networks?
• Are there any ‘market ready’ solutions?
• And has government policy changed?
Rationale for intervention and policy drivers

4. ——
• Industrial Strategy Green Paper, Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) and 5G statements are
consistent with previous UK Government interventions in that:
• Government wants local authorities/LEPs to take the lead (and risk). No change there.
• Schemes focus on capital expenditure (which counts as investment) rather than revenue
measures (which add to public debt). Again, no change.
• Government wants local authorities/LEPs to design and implement innovate policy solutions,
that are State aid compliant, that support private sector investment and represent good VfM.
• Government wants local authorities to prepare digital strategies that embody these measures
(and other ideas) to support their bids for challenge fund money.
• Government still requires that schemes be State aid compliant, and (for reasons of economy)
wants to set limits on the nature and scope of any direct subsidy to the market.
Government does not explicitly rule out interventions outside these frameworks – but any local or
combined authority attempting to do something different would be proceeding at risk!
Has government policy changed?

5. ——
What has changed is that:
• The industrial strategy Green Paper makes no explicit reference to target speeds or costs – it
sees this, and reducing infrastructure costs to those of our global competitors, as outcomes of a
well-functioning market.
• LFFN is not shying away from supply side intervention.
• Although it isn’t stated anywhere in the Green Paper or the LFFN EoI, private equity markets
now regard digital networks as an infrastructure investment, not a service play.
• Government recognises the risks in many altnet business models, including those around
anchor tenancy, which remain commercially unproven at scale. The original national voucher
scheme did a lot to kick start the market; LFFN allows for more extensive testing of the market
to ascertain whether the altnet sector may grow to compete with incumbent and regulated CPs.
• The LFFN challenge fund letter is more explicit than previous bid schemes in setting out “four
Delivery Methods” by which local authorities can achieve the programme objectives around full
fibre networks.
How government policy has changed

6. ——
So Government expectation of policy at a local level is NO LONGER to stimulate demand for
existing xDSL and lease line services – which was successfully delivered, in different ways, by the
Superconnected Cities voucher scheme and by the UK Broadband rollout delivered by Openreach
– but:
• To put in place local investment plans based upon a clear, place-based strategy
• As part of this, to engage the supplier market to deliver near-universal fibre network
infrastructure.
Responding to new opportunities

7. ——
So you’ve seen an opportunity to grab some funding. Your economic plan has some reference to
‘superfast broadband’. Your ICT department has spoken to your PSN provider. Maybe you’ve run a
voucher scheme. Are you ready to collaborate with industry and infrastructure partners?
NO!
Have you got all the information together that you need? How do you know what is needed?
Have you spoken to all your colleagues who may have some say in the decision?
Have you spoken to businesses and communities to understand their needs and aspirations, and
the barriers to meeting them?
How is your relationship with local CPs and ISPs – and your ICT team’s relationship with the
incumbent PSN provider doesn’t count?
Are you up for it?

8. ——
• Equity. Public money normally goes to address areas of market failure. If public funding is
available, it’s your duty to establish whether you can secure it for the benefit of your
communities and businesses. If you want to ‘level up’, you should be putting together a strategy
that looks holistically and in the long term at the needs, costs and benefits of improved
connectivity.
• Economy. Businesses will perform better and create more jobs. Individuals will access new
jobs, develop new skills, earn more and (typically) spend more in your local economy.
• Effectiveness. If you fail to plan … you know the rest. Particularly when money is tight, the only
responsible thing to do is to get your act together.
• Efficiency. If you don’t take responsibility for it, both industry and your colleagues will contrive to
waste a lot of time and money – and remember, that means scarce public resource too – in
attempting to force incompletely designed solutions through inefficient and badly aligned
processes.
Why you need a digital strategy

9. ——
No-one in Government or private sector expects – or wants - public authorities to own and manage
commercial fibre networks. The principal gap in the fibre network is the local access network:
• National/regional backhaul is well catered for;
• The entry of altnets, including City Fibre, creates network competition at the ‘Metropolitan’ level
• The big gap is in local access fibre network - from the PoP to the premises
But at a local government level, there are other gaps that are nothing to do with the supply side:
• Planning: developing plans, and giving supplementary planning guidance for developers and
contractors to enable them to build and retrofit premises that are ‘fibre ready’
• Highways: aligning and streamlining licensing and application processes to reduce complexity,
cost, delays and environmental impact of digs and builds
• Wayleaves: endorsing and enforcing single wayleave agreements
What are the gaps that a local digital strategy should address?

10. ——
• Not an exhaustive list - but some things to think about
Elements of a digital strategy
Mapping Consultation Demand stimulation
Shared access
Coordination and
streamlining of
planning, highways etc
Re-use of assets
Wayleaves
Development plan
documents
Supplementary
planning guidance
S106 CIL Competition
Funding
Economic impact
assessment
Innovation

11. ——
• The resulting interventions should secure a near-universal fibre network that will be ‘future
proof’ for at least fifty years.
• In the process, it should contribute to delivering sufficient capacity in the local access and
backhaul network to stimulate ‘domestic’ ISPs and mobile network operators to drive full-fibre,
5G and other gigabit network capability deeper into residential and SME areas.
• And effectiveness of any strategy should also be measured on the elements of ‘clustering’
identified in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper – “deeper labour markets … leading to higher
growth and living standards”.
What does success look like?

12. ——
We have evolved a unique multi-disciplinary team with real niche expertise in every and all
elements of digital strategy for collaborative projects:
• Adroit Economics – Dr Steve Sheppard – 20 years of experience in broadband policy
appraisal and evaluation; economic and innovation impacts of faster broadband; cost-benefit
analysis, options appraisal, demand forecasting, social and community impacts
• Point Topic – Oliver Johnson - mapping and gapping network services, at post code level; in-
depth supplier intelligence and relationships
• BOP – Iain Bennett - understanding how national, regional and local policy works;
understanding how to set up voucher schemes
• NovacQC – Lew Daniels - specialist telecoms engineer – local access networks
• Quod (planning consultants) Chris Wheaton – how to incorporate broadband policy in planning
policy – development plans, supplementary planning guidance, Section 106s/ CIL funding
contributions
• PRP (architects) – Marylis Ramos - designs and costs for inclusion of future proofed ducts and
risers in different types of new build projects
Digital strategy requires a multi-disciplinary team

13. ——
• Need and benefit - economic impact of faster business connections
• Gaps – “mapping and gapping” by speed target
• Options assessment – clear list of ‘things’ that local authorities can, and cant do, to support
broadband investment
• Green Book options appraisal to keep HM Treasury happy
Tools, models and data we have developed that you will need

14. ——
Project formulation and appraisal:
• Voucher scheme – we helped formulate European Commission voucher scheme policy;
we evaluated GLAs’ voucher scheme; we prepared the business case for the UK’s first
gigabit-capable voucher scheme (Westminster City Council)
• We know how to, and how not to incorporate broadband policy in land use planning – it’s
a tricky process, expensive to get wrong
• We know how to set up and what to share with a local/regional developer advisory
forum – getting the development industry onside is key
• Above all, we know how to ensure your area is ‘investor-ready’ by removing/reducing
unnecessary administrative barriers and costs to the telecoms industry, through co-
operation around a menu of measures
• And: we can advise on how to go about leveraging PSN and integrating metropolitan and
local access network supply
‘How to’ and ‘how not to’

15. ——
We have had success in this – we are working with LB Haringey and GLA and have provided
advice pro bono to the West Midlands Digital Group.
But there is a way to go and we want to open a conversation with you!
Iain Bennett
BOP Consulting
07799 035090
iain@bop.co.uk
Dr Steve Sheppard
Adroit Economics
07725 646300
steve.sheppard@adroit-economics.co.uk
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