I was thrilled to recently travel from South Africa and be part of Connected Britain 2022. 7Twenty are branching into the United Kingdom in the next few months so what better way to delve deep into understanding the present state and the future of broadband in the UK.
The Business Design Centre in London was buzzing with excitement as everyone involved with the UK fixed telecom sector converged for 2 days. Some of the key topics that were discussed involved strategies for network deployment, local authority collaborations, addressing the increasing problem with the digital divide since the pandemic and the recent cost-of-living crisis. Another important topic which I found most interesting especially because it is emerging here in South Africa, is the need for operators to become more sustainable. It’s clear that full fibre broadband has a role to play in helping to deliver a more sustainable carbon-neutral future.
Analyst firm Omdia recently published its Global Fiber Development 2022 Index, and it revealed that the UK is 53rd in the world on fiber development. Scott Bicheno the Editorial Director of Telecoms.com wrote “Countries, such as the UK are further down the list than many less developed countries and need to consider policy reforms to ensure that it is easy to deploy infrastructure and that competition in the market remains high in light of mergers taking place”. This was positively addressed at the conference, and we believe the UK is well on its way to move up the list and deal with the disparity of digital access in rural and urban communities.
