The contrast between the mood of frustration that pervaded the NGA debate for the last five years and the upbeat confidence of the 2010 NextGen conference is remarkable.

This confidence is not just a reflection of BT’s new-found enthusiasm for not losing their market but is also evident amongst the grass-roots activists - indeed this latter group is changing its message from urging action to celebrating success.

Looking back to the BSG’s 2007 report  ‘Pipe Dreams?’ the issue at that time seemed to be the inability of the big players to find a viable business model - leastways one that would be accepted by investors seeking short-term returns.

Two things have changed.   Firstly the incumbents have rediscovered the techniques (learned in the early days of last generation broadband) to create demand and detune the risk.  Despite the evidence they are still unable to countenance a ‘build and they will come’ strategy.

But secondly the grass roots activists have learned (or rather borrowed from overseas experience) that the costs of FTTH are (a) not anywhere near the high-blown estimates of reluctant incumbents and (b) communities really can pull together - not least in reducing the 70% cost component that’s tied up in getting cables into the ground.

The small army of independent network operators, fibre providers and network builders  needed to support these developments  is increasingly robust.  They may not yet have the aggregated clout of the big boys when bidding for large procurements but what they lack in scale they more than make up in quality.

There are now so many local initiatives underway that the notion that communities really do have a choice is no longer an academic debate.  The evidence may be fragmented - lots of small hot-spots that were previously not-spots - and may not get not get infinitely-scaled publicity but the message to larger communities is increasingly clear.   You can demand that BT or Virgin put your place further up the investment agenda or, with the right community leadership and determination, you can get on with it and take control of your community’s destiny.

Just doing it, just doing a little bit of it, is changing the way the next generation game is being played.

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This editorial was written for the Communications Management Association (CMA) whose members spend over £13bn per annum on networked products and services.

Readers of this editorial also viewed ‘Next Generation Thinking’.

NextGen 10 conference & exhibition was organised for INCA