The long-awaited UK Review of barriers to investment in Next Generation Access (NGA), led by Francesco Caio was published yesterday. 

The 100-page report highlighted the advanced network being deployed at Titanic Quarter, Belfast, as an ‘excellent illustration’ of the way developers are being innovative, building 'their own networks and having them run on an Open Access basis’.

‘The two key design requirements for the Titanic Quarter access network are future-proofing and competitive innovation.

The chosen design is therefore a fully open-access and carrier-neutral fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network modelled on the well-proven independent local networks already in use in countries such as Sweden.

Utilising the new freedoms of fibre, each occupant will be able to use their connection to handle several concurrent services of different types (voice telephony, internet access, IPTVetc.) from many different, concurrent, service providers. 

The operational management of the Titanic Quarter access network is independent of any communications/service provider and connectivity is sold only on a wholesale basis.’ 

The report’s recommendations for the UK government included backing for local networks managed independently of the major players and ‘open networks’ to create a more-competitive wholesale market. 

In considering the many issues that need timely resolution, the report urged Ofcom to take a leadership role but acknowledged that ‘this will be a difficult task, but one that is essential to defining an actionable implementation plan.’  The report further urged Government to ‘strongly back Ofcom’ in this role. 

The Caio Review made extensive use of the government-commissioned Broadband Stakeholders Group report on the costs of NGA deployment, published last week.  

Publication also coincided with a Cisco-sponsored study undertaken by Said Business School at the University of Oxford and the University of Oviedo's Department of Applied Economics.  Analysing over 8 million records from 42 countries the report showed that the performance of the broadband infrastructure in the UK, Italy and Spain is not adequate, even for today’s applications, and that in the global league tables Sweden is second only to Japan in its readiness for the future.

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For more information see: 

Caio Review ‘The Next Phase of Broadband UK:  Action now for long term competitiveness’ (http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file47788.pdf )

Broadband Stakeholders Group:  ‘Cost of deploying next generation broadband’  ( http://www.broadbanduk.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_view/gid,1036/Itemid,63 )

Broadband Quality Scores : Study undertaken by Said Business School, Oxford, and the Deparment of Applied Economics at Universidad de Oviedo, Spain.

'Fibre More than Faster' - a commentary on the Titanic Quarter appointment of Redstone as preferred partner for network provision and management http://www.groupe-intellex.com/editorials/18-gi-global/153-fibre-more-than-faster.html

Connected Urban Development - 'Titanic Quarter - a 21st Century Icon' - presentation from the Cisco CUD Conference, Amsterdam, September 2008 (downloadable PDF)