BT Broadband Provision: Local Businesses

Chris Davies Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2016 Westminster Hall

[Helen Goodman]

The hon. Lady has put it beautifully.

[Chris Davies (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)]

On behalf of the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and as a member of that Committee, which interviewed the chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency yesterday, I hasten to add that although broadband is difficult for our farmers, it is not the only reason why the Rural Payments Agency is not delivering at the moment. I just want that on the record because I would hate the chief executive purely to blame broadband for the delay.

[Helen Goodman]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I have 1,000 sheep farmers in my constituency and I know that to be true.

I want proper service for the small businesses in my constituency, particularly at the Teesdale end, which has been ill-served up to now. There are general lessons to be learned for BT, for Openreach and for the Government, and I hope we can make some progress on those general lessons.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Davies (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Ryan. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) on securing such an important debate. Broadband is an essential component of modern business life.

As we are all aware, a connected business is a competitive business. Those who cannot connect are left behind in the global race, and we must not let our excellent local businesses fall into that trap. The hon. Lady’s constituency is in many ways similar to my own. Beautiful rolling countryside and rural communities litter the local area and, like me, she has many excellent rural businesses crying out for better broadband. I am delighted that she mentioned a local firm of auctioneers that is suffering. I spent 20 years in that profession before entering this place, so I sympathise enormously with those auctioneers and understand what they are going through.

As a rural constituency, Brecon and Radnorshire faces many challenges, to which I will return later. However, I feel that it is only right to begin by commending the Government for their commitment to the 10 megabits per second universal service obligation. We are often quick to criticise, but that commitment was welcomed across my constituency and will be a great comfort to local people.

I have spoken in many debates on broadband during my short time here in Parliament—

[The Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

So have I.

[Chris Davies]

And when I have spoken, the Minister has always answered at the end with a cheery smile and a great further commitment to rural broadband. However, I believe he would agree that even though he has always spoken well, there is still much more to do.

There are three main issues involved in providing adequate broadband to our rural businesses. The first is information. It is vital that our businesses have access to all the information they need to make an informed decision about their broadband needs. Many businesses that I speak to in my constituency tell me that they cannot get access to the speeds that they need, yet they are unaware of many of the options available to them. Often, few are aware of the possibility of ethernet connections, and many are put off by the extra costs involved, as might be expected. Others are still oblivious to the promise of satellite and wireless broadband, which could satisfy their requirements.

Businesses face a lot of noise about off-the-shelf products that hides alternative options that might benefit them. I therefore recommend that the Government do all that they can to ensure that our businesses are properly informed of all the options available. BT and other providers offer alternative services that might fulfil the needs of those local businesses.

[James Cartlidge]

Although information is key, does my hon. Friend not accept that sometimes there are physical reasons? With mobile reception, for instance, in some areas there are dips in the land or other factors that cause a “not spot” where there is no signal. I have good mobile signal where I live, and I use mobile broadband. Does my hon. Friend share my hope that the Minister is doing all he can to encourage further support for mobile phone signal as well as broadband in rural areas?

[Chris Davies]

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend, and I am sure the Minister will pick up that point when he sums up later.

When I have spoken to BT and Openreach about the roll-out of broadband, they have outlined many of the challenges involved in getting broadband to local rural businesses. They have told me of challenges in assessing the infrastructure that they need to roll out superfast and ultrafast broadband, and the costs involved in doing so. Although I applaud the Government’s work in assisting the roll-out of broadband to rural communities, I ask that the same concern be given to the roll-out to rural businesses. I am informed that where it is economically not viable to provide broadband to an area, it is down to the local authorities to decide where to procure services. I therefore ask the Government to do all they can to pressure local councils and the Welsh Assembly Government to give the same consideration to business broadband as they do to local communities.

Finally, following on from my previous point, I ask the Minister to consider how we can bring together broadband provision for communities and businesses. It is not economically viable to provide broadband to large areas, such as those in my constituency in rural Wales and on the Welsh marches. Premises for both habitation and business are spread over vast geographical distances, which can make broadband provision extremely expensive. I therefore commend Openreach’s community fibre broadband partnerships, which offer communities the opportunity to part-fund the roll-out of broadband in their local area. The scheme is aimed at giving give local people and businesses the broadband provision they need. I encourage the Minister to take this opportunity to welcome the scheme, as it would help many of my constituents.

That said, the scheme involves challenges. Local communities and businesses have to fund it themselves, paying half up front when work starts and the remainder on completion. Many of my constituents who are local business owners are not able or willing to pay those costs up front. Costs for installation often run to tens of thousands of pounds, and many business owners are concerned that their cash flow will suffer as a result of extensive implementation costs. Will the Minister meet me to discuss alternative funding options, perhaps including a community loan scheme so that our rural businesses and communities can access the connections that they need while avoiding cash flow issues?

Connecting our businesses to broadband is essential in the modern age. Openreach and the Government are working tirelessly to connect our excellent British businesses, but there are significant challenges to provision in rural areas. I implore the Minister and BT not to forget about businesses in rural areas. The risks of doing so are high and detrimental to the rural economy. If rural businesses are forgotten, we could lose a significant portion of our important rural life as businesses seek to move to better-connected cities and towns. That would cost jobs and livelihoods, not to mention deplete our rural communities. My message is simple. I commend the Government for the roll-out thus far, but they must ensure that it happens across not just most of the UK but the whole UK.