By David Meyer, 20 January 2009 16:39
NEWS
ISPs should be given radio spectrum in exchange for rolling out fibre, a quasi-governmental body has suggested.
The lottery-funded National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) released a policy briefing on Monday, ahead of the launch of Lord Carter's interim Digital Britain review, in which it called on Carter and the government to consider a "spectrum for speed" swap.
Nesta claims the "radical communications deal would see the government grant telecommunication companies access to valuable radio spectrum in exchange for the installation of super-fast fibre optic cables nationwide".
Broadband from A to Z
Click on the links below to find out more...
A is for ADSL
B is for BT
C is for Cable & Wireless
D is for Dial-up
E is for Education
F is for Fibre
G is for Goonhilly
H is for HSDPA
I is for In-flight
J is for Janet
K is for Kingston
L is for Landlines
M is for Murdoch
N is for Next generation
O is for Ofcom
P is for Power lines
Q is for Quad-play
R is for Remote working
S is for Satellite phones
T is for Trains
U is for Unbundling
V is for VoIP
W is for WiMax
X is for Xbox
Y is for YouTube
Z is for Zombies
The briefing's authors, James Meadway and Juan Mateos-Garcia, claimed the universal provision of "super-fast broadband" across the UK would have a baseline cost of around £5bn, but would directly create 600,000 new ICT jobs and add £18bn to the country's gross domestic product. In this way, they claimed, the UK could "emerge from the recession in a far stronger position".
Speaking to silicon.com sister site ZDNet UK on Tuesday, Meadway said the government and Ofcom should re-examine the auction model that will be used to dispose of UHF spectrum coming free as a result of the digital switchover.
Meadway said: "If you look at what Ofcom's got lined up to get rid of over the next few years, with the recession and revenues from these auctions not being as guaranteed stable as 10 years ago, it is probably better all round for the government to think a bit more creatively about how it uses these assets.
"If we're going to emerge from the recession better than we went into it, we have to get things lined up now - short-term stimuli like installing lots of fibre access everywhere."
Meadway did not specify precisely which spectrum was being talked about in Nesta's "spectrum for speed" proposal, but alluded to WiMax, a technology that would benefit from the upcoming 2.6GHz auction.
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