The Review set in place a policy framework described by techUK as highly effective in unleashing private investment for the fibre sector, with £33.2bn helping to drive coverage from six per cent to 41 per cent of premises passed today.
Now, techUK’s telecoms members have emphasised that if government wants to focus on economic growth and innovation, reducing the friction for the remaining fibre rollout should be a major priority alongside boosting the rate of take-up of fibre services. The right framework is in place, techUK said, adding that it is now ‘time to deliver’.
To fully realise the benefits of 5G and learn the lessons of publicly funded programmes like 5G Testbeds and Trials, techUK said that government must do more and offered suggestions that the forthcoming Wireless Infrastructure Strategy should take to unlock investment and facilitate the rollout of non-standalone 5G.
Key recommendations outlined by techUK to ensure the ongoing delivery of 5G and fibre technologies include:
- A specific visa introduced by DCMS and the Home Office, targeted at telecoms workers to help support infrastructure businesses investing in growth
- Passing the ‘critical’ Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill as soon as parliamentary time allows
- Redoubled efforts from DCMS and the Department for Transport to introduce the flexi permits regime so that it can be activated at the earliest opportunity
- A government planning regime that underpins the emerging mobile infrastructure requirements of the future, including network densification and accelerated deployment models
- Further identify public sector use cases for 5G and fibre solutions to boost the transition to a digital-first government, unlock smarter procurement and encourage take-up across the private sector
“It’s great to see the progress made by the UK’s telecoms sector since the FTIR was published in 2018 – there has been positive progress in the face of significant challenges, and broadly it was the right framework,” said Matthew Evans, director for markets, techUK.
“But in analysing the FTIR’s recommendations, our members have found that more is to be done. Barriers persist, and techUK looks forward to working with both government and Ofcom on smoothing the friction that remains for rolling out fibre and full 5G.”