Superfast Cornwall was a £132 million partnership that brought fibre broadband to 100% of the region, with 80% fibre coverage. This transformed the rural economy, connecting over 10,000 businesses and creating 4,000 new jobs. An evaluation found the programme increased GDP by £186 million already and was on track to boost it by over £250 million by mid-2016, all from just £53.5 million in EU funds. The success demonstrates that public-private partnerships are an essential model for deploying broadband in rural and less commercially viable areas.

1. Urban and Rural Fibre in the UK
Ranulf Scarbrough
BT Group

2. © British Telecommunications plc
The UK’s leading position on Superfast

3. © British Telecommunications plc
But what really counts ...

4. Partnership across the UK

5. Superfast Cornwall
rural transformation through fibre

6. population: 534k
peripheral location:
train to London 5½ hours
small rural market towns
weak economy:
GVA 65% of UK average
qualified for EU structural funds:
ERDF Convergence 2007-2015

7. a bold aspiration …
£132m partnership
open access
100% with 80%
fibre coverage
infrastructure for
economic transformation
10,000 business
connections
4,000 new jobs
a rural fibre exemplar
gap funded investor
build/own/operate
futureproofing
productivity &
competitiveness
risk
sharing

9. some rural FTTC …

10. a tale of 3 cabs ...
<0.5
>4
2-4
1-2
1-2
0.5-1
>4
n/a
ADSL (Mbps): FTTC (Mbps):
60-80
2-15
60-80
60-80
15-40
10:
11:
40-60
.5-1
4:

11. c.10km of
mainly
overhead FTTP
with all
premises served
4 km
4 km

12. 4 km
4 km
2Mbps+
FTTC
VDSL2
24Mbps+
FTTC ceases to give
good performance

13. c.10km of
mainly
overhead FTTP
with all
premises served
4 km
4 km

16. 62% FTTC (162k)
33% FTTP (85k)
90,000+ connections
60+ ISPs

20. world class rural fibre broadband network
driving high levels of participation
business
support
digital
skills
public sector
transformation
digital
inclusion
environmental
sustainability
benefit evaluation
research &
innovation

23. impact ... 2015 results
Plymouth University SERIO
quantitative analysis
sample: 2000+
JUN-2015
www.superfastcornwall.org/impact
 2000+ survey responses
 12,000+ SMEs connected (42%)
 £186.1m GVA increase already
 £30.5m GVA from start-ups
 £250m+ by mid-2016
 4500 jobs (2000 created; 2500 safeguarded)
 connected SMEs’s revenues growing 4.5x faster
 50% creating new goods & services
 25% reaching new international markets
all from £53.5m of EU funds !

24. Partnership across the UK

26. BT 2020 goals:
 Gfast: 10m ultrafast premises
 FTTP: 2m ultrafast premises
 4G: 95% geographic coverage

27.  powerful partnership model for deployment in uncommercial areas
 ‘mixed economy’ of solutions essential, but rich with fibre
 rural and urban
 fixed coverage underpinning mobile coverage
 coverage, quality and speed
 driving usage + transformation: business, public sector, education, health, inclusion, environmental etc
 smart cities + smart rural areas
 continuing to be a leading digital economy
Summary

28. Urban and Rural Fibre Success
in the UK
Ranulf Scarbrough
BT Group