Don't unbundle the loop, unbundle the UK

NEWS Professor Jim Norton, head of e-business policy at IoD, said: "I believe the key to driving broadband into the regions is using the purchasing power of local government to stimulate demand for the provision of local government services." Norton suggested local and national government should lead the way in buying broadband services, which will provide a guaranteed level of demand for telcos hoping to launch products. Government contracts should be allocated to one company per region, he says, to give providers the necessary economies of scale. Splitting the contract up between numerous different players has contributed to the failure of similar government projects in the past. Local government should merely specify bandwidth requirements, rather than delivery technologies, says Norton. "There is no magic bullet for broadband - DSL, cable modems, satellite and radio fixed access all have a part to play." However, he could not speculate on the length of government contracts due to EU rules. Smaller government agencies are better at doing this than large ones, he says, citing the example of Scotland, where the Scottish Executive has already started working with local authorities to put Norton's ideas into action. Norton works one day a week as adviser to the Scottish Executive. He said: "Rolling out broadband in a fully devolved UK, with independent regions such as greater Yorkshire, would be easier than in a unified England and Wales."