Chicken or Egg – Broadband or PSN?

February 11, 2011 in Adrian's tech blog

As Local Authorities around the country are beginning to scramble to prepare for the BD-UK competitions, a question seems to be hanging over everyone and is largely going unanswered: Which comes first – the PSN or the broadband?

A good number of local authorities are rolling their internal networking needs into the wider infrastructure project, which is tending to result in a PSN process leading the strategy and a fairly traditional procurement exercise ensuing. But its not clear to me that this is always the best approach.

Certainly the public sector is normally one of the biggest customers of broadband in any geography, and knowing that there is a willing anchor tenant certainly improves the business case but using the PSN as the basis for the procurement isn’t quite the same thing – the combined weight of the SME and consumer markets are considerably larger than the combined weight of the public sector, so procuring the network in the image of the smaller stakeholder doesn’t seem to make sense.

The case for broadband infrastructure can be made with or without the immediate custom of the public sector, while the existence of a next generation infrastructure will certainly make the procurement of a PSN easier and more powerful. Adding the promise of public sector business alongside that of local businesses and domestic customers helps the case – it doesn’t make it alone.

So if the public sector is seen as one of the stakeholders rather than the lead, how does this change the approach?

For any number of reasons, the procurement of a PSN means a traditional procurement exercise with a single county-wide winner. There is a relatively small pool of possible winners, all from the more traditional end of the market – it would be unlikely that Rutland Telecom or Vtesse, for example, would seriously consider bidding for a PSN contract, yet they are two of the most innovative network operators in the UK today and have demonstrated their ability to provide the kind of platform on which a flexible and high-speed PSN might be based.

Each locality will need to adopt its own approach, reflecting local needs and opportunities, as it prepares to bid for BD-UK cash. This may, in some areas, lead to a single big contract being awarded but its not the only approach, and its not one that easily meets the diverse needs of many geographies.

A more nuanced approach is likely to lead to some kind of framework, made up of a variety of providers coming together with a diverse set of stakeholders, each with their own needs and capabilities.

One such approach might adopt the LEP process, with communities or parishes that naturally associate with each other joining forces as combined elements in a county-wide framework.

Some of these areas will have money to invest;
Some may be happy to sign pre-orders as collateral;
Some will dig the trenches;
While others will race for infinity.

Such a framework will attract a wider range of bidders, greater scope for investment, and a more creative solution able to optimise every inch of every county.

A PSN built on such a rich and diverse infrastructure, based on known and existing standards, will generate a greater scope for service transformation and the development of stronger partnerships with local people and businesses.

For me, the broadband comes first – the PSN is one of its anchors.

Tags: BD-UK, big society, business models, community, procurement exercise, regional identity

5 Comments »

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PhilT
I suppose the first question to answer is “do we need a public sector network at all, or can we use the internet.”
Do any corporates install peer networks to other companies ?
Would a large demand for internet connectivity by public sector entities stimulate supply of such connectivity locally, rather than an NHS network being trenched in some weeks after a schools network on the same road ?
- adrian
  Really good point! I don’t know of any that rely exclusively on networks they don’t own but its been quite normal for them to link their networks with partner organisations and to use VPN technology to give their staff freedom. And then think of the knots the public wraps itself up in when they have staff co-habiting, with physically separate connection nailed up, restricting their movement and creating a complexity which is bound to trip over from time to time.
  If the public sector could simply assume all networks are insecure and give their staff the same kind of secure VPN technology used every day by businesses that are every bit a worried about the safety of their data it would save a fortune, simplify the technology, and free their staff to work as they need to.
  - cyberdoyle
    good heavens, assume all networks are insecure? employ some common sense and joined up thinking? Whatever next are you going to suggest?
    Good post btw, but if infinity features in some of the solution don’t you think that it won’t be a final solution because we all know infinity is still copper broadband, and those in urban areas who settle for that will be whining again in another few years…
    … also i don’t think cabinets should be funded unless they are accessible by other network operators, like rutland (who didn’t get funding I don’t think). We shouldn’t let funding go to the incumbent to shackle more folk to copper phone lines. For infinity.
    chris
http://www.nynet.co.uk David Cullen
Good post- and excellent points about security. However, I think they avoid to mention the major issue: backhaul. To my mind, that is the single biggest element that the public sector brings to the economics of the final third. Sure, end-to-end encryption could overcome all but MI5′s and the MOD’s security needs (and for those CESG hackers reading this, I’m sure there are some others as well…) and at NYnet we are looking at exactly that approach. What counts is using the link that is needed to the local primary school, GP surgery and even (God forbid) library- which happen to normally be in the community- to establish the digital community hub, from which the most effective local NGA scheme can be deployed. That’s the NYnet plan. As long as the PSN procurement focuses on using public sector ‘muscle’ to bring the backhaul and the hub, and leaves the local access open and avaialable, it has to be the chicken (or is it the egg… ?)

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