Background to our Planned Network Deployment Report (“PND Report”).
This is our third forward-looking report about planned network deployments supporting very high speed broadband services in the United Kingdom, which, for all fixed networks we have examined, are now all based on full fibre technology.
Ofcom’s PND Report is prepared and published to supplement our infrastructure reports (known as our Connected Nations reports). The basis and purpose of this report are set out below and provide important context to the information we publish.
Purpose of this forward-looking report
One of the electronic communications networks matters that Ofcom considers in our infrastructure reports prepared under section 134A of the Communications Act 2003 (the 2003 Act) is any future build proposals of communications providers.
Specifically, this means that Ofcom needs to report on the proposals that providers of electronic communications network in the UK may at any time have within the next 3 years to bring into operation a new very high capacity network (VHCN) [1], other than a mobile network, or to extend or upgrade any part of a fixed line network or its equivalent, such as a fixed wireless access network, so as to provide a download speed of at least 100 megabits per second (Mbit/s) [2].
These plans are commercially sensitive, limiting the amount of information we publish
By their very nature, such proposals containing detailed build plans for identifiable network operators are confidential and extremely commercially sensitive and, as such, Ofcom will exclude such particular information from our published Connected Nations reports.
However, pursuant to section 134AC(1) of the 2003 Act, the Secretary of State must have regard to our infrastructure reports received from Ofcom under section 134A for three purposes, namely the allocation of public funds for the bringing into operation of electronic communications networks; the design of national broadband plans; and verifying the availability of services to which universal service conditions apply.
For those reasons and consistent with our previous PND Reports, the approach we have taken to the preparation and publication of this Connected Nations supplemental report is to include for publication only aggregated and anonymised overall planned build proposals for each of the local and regional authorities in the UK, together with our high-level findings.
We have also prepared a confidential annex to this report containing full details of specific operator and property coverage data that has been sent to the Secretary of State. This annex will not be published.
Plans are subject to change
The data presented represents providers’ own forecast of coverage which depend on the builds currently in progress. Operators’ deployment plans, no matter how far advanced and committed, can be subject to change [3]. The figures set out in this PND Report cannot be considered comprehensive or definitive.
Our PND Reports can be found in the links below
Footnotes
1. Section 4(12A) of the 2003 Act defines the meaning of a VHCN as an electronic communications network which: (a) consists wholly of optical fibre elements at least up to the distribution point at the serving location; or (b) is capable of delivering, under usual peak-time conditions, network performance that, in Ofcom’s opinion, is similar, in terms of available downlink and uplink bandwidth, resilience, error-related parameters and latency and its variation, to the network performance of a network falling within paragraph (a). Section 4(12B) of the 2003 Act clarifies that network performance can be considered similar regardless of whether the end-user experience varies due to the inherently different characteristics of the medium by which the network ultimately connects with the network termination point.
2. Section 134B(1)(j) of the 2003 Act.
3. We are also not intending to update our broadband coverage checker to include future build information. Not only would this information be confidential and extremely commercially sensitive for the same reasons, but it could also provide an unreasonable expectation for an individual householder. We anticipate that individual properties are likely to be informed by broadband providers when VHCNs are, or are expected to be, made available at a specific location as part of sales and marketing initiatives. If so, and when retail providers have informed us that the properties are covered or “Ready for Service”, we intend to update our broadband coverage checker with the relevant information.