UK altnets’ fibre optic overbuild risking rural connectivity

The UK’s independent broadband providers (altnets) could be running into a major issue in the form of thousands of kilometres of underutilised fibre-optic cabling, according to asset reuse specialist AssetHub.

The company said an estimated 100,000km of taxpayer-funded full-fibre cables are being laid in the UK, with government subsidies made available through the flagship £5bn Project Gigabit broadband roll-out programme, which is aiming to cover 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025 and nationwide coverage by 2030. In all, over £1.4bn has been granted to 12 companies who are building broadband networks in places including Cornwall, Cumbria, Northumberland, Yorkshire and East Anglia.

Sponsored by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, executive agency Building Digital UK (BDUK) is providing public money for rural deployments that are mandated to provide wholesale access to passive, active, backhaul and dark fibre.

AssetHub noted that while it was a condition of receiving the grant that companies raise awareness of where their new networks are and enable other operators to use them, many were actually failing to make the most of these important assets.

While it added that some builders of full-fibre networks who have received government funding to create broadband connectivity in rural and hard-to-reach areas could be failing to make their cables easily available to other operators, despite open networking being a condition of receiving taxpayers’ money, it also warned that failing to promote and enable access to these networks could be holding back plans to “level-up” rural and remote communities across the UK.

In a call to action, AssetHub urged network builders that have received funding through BDUK to make sure they know where their fibre is deployed, and advised that this infrastructure is open for use by other companies. AssetHub said this was not only to ensure compliance to BDUK, but to allow real competition for consumers and reduce overbuild in the industry, as well as generating much-needed revenues from the fibre cables.

“The UK altnet industry is at risk of more unnecessary overbuild as new entrants rush to deploy new infrastructure without considering the long-term sustainability of their business models,” said AssetHub CEO Rob Leenderts. “AssetHub’s BDUK Project Gigabit-compliant trading platform for purchasing and selling infrastructure and services helps network builders map their fibre networks for visibility. It also makes sure approved ISPs and other network builders are aware and able to gain access to the network, securely, offering those that have not received funding an alternative to building more fibre.”

James Saunby of industry analyst GreySky Consulting added: “Close to 100,000km of fibre is being deployed across the UK thanks to the £1.4bn in Project Gigabit funding from BDUK. It is critical that network builders understand the potential for these networks to be clearly open and able to be used.

“A network mapping and contracting service, which is already being driven by the ongoing consolidation between altnets, that can securely share the location and scope of existing networks is required,” he said. “For those network builders who have funded their own network buildouts, there is the added opportunity to generate some more revenue by selling space, services and unused fibre to other companies.”