ARFS Jeff Humes leads South Ipswich bid for broadband
Date published: 11th March 2003
The South Ipswich bid led by Jeff Hume of web consultants A Recipe For Success, the Two Rivers Peninsula bid led by IT consultant Ned Cartwright and the Wherstead Peninsula Business Centre entry led by Oliver Paul of IT recruitment specialists International, came together to form an umbrella bid for broadband internet called Broadspeed.
The Suffolk Development Agency held a special meeting at the end of February for the co-ordinators of Suffolk's now 50-plus bids for EEDA broadband funding, primarily to see if there were any bids that wanted to team up in the "Connecting Communities" competition. As the deadline for entries for EEDA's broadband funding draws closer, Kate McNally from the East Anglian Daily Times spoke to the co-ordinators of the joint bid for South Ipswich and the Peninsula about their hopes, ideas and activities for broadband. Before the meeting however, three local bids had already flagged up the benefits of joining forces to represent a wider geographical area.
Not surprisingly given the technology background of the trio, the joint bid is looking further into the broadband future than the next couple of years. As Jeff says, the broadband technologies talked about today are already five years old. So, while they are hoping to secure funding to meet the very real immediate broadband needs of businesses and communities in their area, they are also attempting to collate market research to support a strategic bid to carry out trials for more 'future proof' broadband technologies. "We're thinking not only of technology for today, but also technology for tomorrow," says Oliver. "Our proposal will be on two levels. One, we've got to get affordable broadband in here as quickly as possible to meet our demand now. For most of the companies in the Peninsula Business Centre, no broadband is not an option - it has got to the stage that it will affect our services. "But the bandwidth will soon be used up, so we need to put in infrastructure that will allow us scaleability to get the higher bandwidth for the future. Because of that, our technical solution will probably be mixed technology - cable, fibre, radio, wireless, satellite." So far, the bid has been primarily a marketing exercise. The focus has been on raising awareness both directly with potential end-users, through newsletters and email, and via intermediaries, such as business groups, local authorities, voluntary groups, who can help carry the message further afield.
To stimulate sufficient demand for a viable business case, the three men estimate they need around 250 registrations - perhaps fewer, says Oliver, depending on the number of businesses that sign up, as they are likely to put in more money. At the same time, interested parties registering at the Broadspeed website are being asked to provide background information that will help form the basis of market research to prove the bigger argument in their business case. That is, that broadband will be key to the future economic prosperity of the area - which is, after all, one of the Government's own arguments for promoting Broadband Britain. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this argument, but as Ned, Jeff and Oliver have discovered, finding any statistical evidence is another matter. "We are arguing that the economic prospects will be better by having broadband than not having it," explains Jeff. "We think it will have a genuine economic impact. Certainly in our company, people are continually having to sit and wait for the internet to catch up - that's quite simply unproductive. Most people have a gut feel that the lack of broadband is holding them back, but it's very difficult to prove. We want to be able to quantify that in some way to include hard facts in our business case. "As well as showing that EEDA's funding would help cover operational costs, we also want to show that the economic benefit to the wider community will be 10 times the costs."
They also intend to include case studies from other countries where broadband has become "a de facto norm", says Ned. His son-in-law works in broadband in Canada where the government invested $28 a head to install broadband in every remote community. This should help provide some concrete evidence of the benefits it brings.
New technologies are often driven at the outset by business, before going on to enjoy widespread take-up from the general public - the railways, electricity, computers, for example. While Ned, Oliver and Jeff accept that business is likely to provide the majority of funding, together with government funding and investment from broadband suppliers, they are also aware that in rural areas in particular residential up-take is crucial to reach the demand levels necessary for commercial viability. "Looking at the numbers for South Ipswich, a larger proportion of the money could come from the residential side. The business case is dependent on both the residential and the business numbers. There aren't enough businesses with sufficient money to stand up a business case for broadband on their own," says Jeff. "Besides," adds Oliver, "if business people like us go to the time and effort to get broadband, why not roll it out to the broader community? Businesses use it more from 9am to 5pm, and residential users from 5pm to 10pm, so it makes sense to share the infrastructure and the costs."
Ned believes that EEDA's "demandbroadband" campaign and competition has been valuable in taking the debate to the grass roots. "This sort of approach ripples out, it is a cost-effective way of getting people talking about broadband," he says. For Jeff, EEDA's £3.3 million funding is helping to prime the market and take some of the risk out of the process for businesses and communities wanting broadband - a role that is especially important in today's economic climate, where uncertainty is likely to deter more prospecting investment. The trio is slightly concerned, however, that EEDA doesn't take the approach of trying to reward the 100-plus bids entering the competition, which would dilute the potential effectiveness of its broadband honeypot. But, like Mark Allen who is leading the bid for Wetheringsett, the Broadspeed group does not rule out putting a business case direct to broadband suppliers if they are not successful in securing EEDA funding. Even now, they are considering seeking funding from other bodies as part of their bid to EEDA - for example, DEFRA, the European Union, and Ipswich and Babergh borough councils which, they say, have been very supportive of their efforts to date. (Babergh has offered to be the fund-holder for bids in its district.) It would require re-working the financials, but with a robust business case, they are reasonably confident of persuading businesses in the area to provide installation funding which suppliers would match. There is also the option of setting up a community-based company to raise initial capital and run the project. Their assumption is that once broadband is available, more and more people would become involved, lowering the costs and delivering a return on investment more quickly. The more the three men talk - as they do every Saturday morning - the more their ideas and business plan evolve.
The Broadspeed strategy is coming together well, it seems, ahead of next week's deadline. The Broadspeed bid covers the Ipswich Peninsula, from Wherstead to Shotley Gate and back up to Holbrook, Stutton and out to Capel and Tattingstone, and the South Ipswich area incorporating most areas south of Stoke Bridge.
For more information or to register interest, go to www.broad-speed.co.uk.
To Support the broadband campaign, go to www.demandbroadband.com
The Suffolk Development Agency held a special meeting at the end of February for the co-ordinators of Suffolk's now 50-plus bids for EEDA broadband funding, primarily to see if there were any bids that wanted to team up in the "Connecting Communities" competition. As the deadline for entries for EEDA's broadband funding draws closer, Kate McNally from the East Anglian Daily Times spoke to the co-ordinators of the joint bid for South Ipswich and the Peninsula about their hopes, ideas and activities for broadband. Before the meeting however, three local bids had already flagged up the benefits of joining forces to represent a wider geographical area.
Not surprisingly given the technology background of the trio, the joint bid is looking further into the broadband future than the next couple of years. As Jeff says, the broadband technologies talked about today are already five years old. So, while they are hoping to secure funding to meet the very real immediate broadband needs of businesses and communities in their area, they are also attempting to collate market research to support a strategic bid to carry out trials for more 'future proof' broadband technologies. "We're thinking not only of technology for today, but also technology for tomorrow," says Oliver. "Our proposal will be on two levels. One, we've got to get affordable broadband in here as quickly as possible to meet our demand now. For most of the companies in the Peninsula Business Centre, no broadband is not an option - it has got to the stage that it will affect our services. "But the bandwidth will soon be used up, so we need to put in infrastructure that will allow us scaleability to get the higher bandwidth for the future. Because of that, our technical solution will probably be mixed technology - cable, fibre, radio, wireless, satellite." So far, the bid has been primarily a marketing exercise. The focus has been on raising awareness both directly with potential end-users, through newsletters and email, and via intermediaries, such as business groups, local authorities, voluntary groups, who can help carry the message further afield.
To stimulate sufficient demand for a viable business case, the three men estimate they need around 250 registrations - perhaps fewer, says Oliver, depending on the number of businesses that sign up, as they are likely to put in more money. At the same time, interested parties registering at the Broadspeed website are being asked to provide background information that will help form the basis of market research to prove the bigger argument in their business case. That is, that broadband will be key to the future economic prosperity of the area - which is, after all, one of the Government's own arguments for promoting Broadband Britain. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this argument, but as Ned, Jeff and Oliver have discovered, finding any statistical evidence is another matter. "We are arguing that the economic prospects will be better by having broadband than not having it," explains Jeff. "We think it will have a genuine economic impact. Certainly in our company, people are continually having to sit and wait for the internet to catch up - that's quite simply unproductive. Most people have a gut feel that the lack of broadband is holding them back, but it's very difficult to prove. We want to be able to quantify that in some way to include hard facts in our business case. "As well as showing that EEDA's funding would help cover operational costs, we also want to show that the economic benefit to the wider community will be 10 times the costs."
They also intend to include case studies from other countries where broadband has become "a de facto norm", says Ned. His son-in-law works in broadband in Canada where the government invested $28 a head to install broadband in every remote community. This should help provide some concrete evidence of the benefits it brings.
New technologies are often driven at the outset by business, before going on to enjoy widespread take-up from the general public - the railways, electricity, computers, for example. While Ned, Oliver and Jeff accept that business is likely to provide the majority of funding, together with government funding and investment from broadband suppliers, they are also aware that in rural areas in particular residential up-take is crucial to reach the demand levels necessary for commercial viability. "Looking at the numbers for South Ipswich, a larger proportion of the money could come from the residential side. The business case is dependent on both the residential and the business numbers. There aren't enough businesses with sufficient money to stand up a business case for broadband on their own," says Jeff. "Besides," adds Oliver, "if business people like us go to the time and effort to get broadband, why not roll it out to the broader community? Businesses use it more from 9am to 5pm, and residential users from 5pm to 10pm, so it makes sense to share the infrastructure and the costs."
Ned believes that EEDA's "demandbroadband" campaign and competition has been valuable in taking the debate to the grass roots. "This sort of approach ripples out, it is a cost-effective way of getting people talking about broadband," he says. For Jeff, EEDA's £3.3 million funding is helping to prime the market and take some of the risk out of the process for businesses and communities wanting broadband - a role that is especially important in today's economic climate, where uncertainty is likely to deter more prospecting investment. The trio is slightly concerned, however, that EEDA doesn't take the approach of trying to reward the 100-plus bids entering the competition, which would dilute the potential effectiveness of its broadband honeypot. But, like Mark Allen who is leading the bid for Wetheringsett, the Broadspeed group does not rule out putting a business case direct to broadband suppliers if they are not successful in securing EEDA funding. Even now, they are considering seeking funding from other bodies as part of their bid to EEDA - for example, DEFRA, the European Union, and Ipswich and Babergh borough councils which, they say, have been very supportive of their efforts to date. (Babergh has offered to be the fund-holder for bids in its district.) It would require re-working the financials, but with a robust business case, they are reasonably confident of persuading businesses in the area to provide installation funding which suppliers would match. There is also the option of setting up a community-based company to raise initial capital and run the project. Their assumption is that once broadband is available, more and more people would become involved, lowering the costs and delivering a return on investment more quickly. The more the three men talk - as they do every Saturday morning - the more their ideas and business plan evolve.
The Broadspeed strategy is coming together well, it seems, ahead of next week's deadline. The Broadspeed bid covers the Ipswich Peninsula, from Wherstead to Shotley Gate and back up to Holbrook, Stutton and out to Capel and Tattingstone, and the South Ipswich area incorporating most areas south of Stoke Bridge.
For more information or to register interest, go to www.broad-speed.co.uk.
To Support the broadband campaign, go to www.demandbroadband.com
Tel: 0845 8 409933