First of all, thank you for all the people who completed the poll.

And now the results.

Is the proposed BDUK framework good for the broadband industry and customers?

• 63% disagree
• 21% are unsure
• 14% agree
• 2% were unaware of the framework

I suppose the upside is that the BDUK have done a good job of promoting the framework, but with only 1 in 7  supporting the framework it suggests more work is needed to engage with people.

Is the Government’s 2015 broadband target still realistic?

• 80% said “No”
• 11% said they were “Unsure”
• 9% said it was achievable

Such a clear statement surprised me – personally I have moved from a big “Yes” to “Unsure” and drifting towards “No”, and not really known for sitting on the fence I suspected that the answer would be more nuanced than this. I guess my concern about such a clear sentiment is that there may be a temptation to redefine the goals so Sir Humphrey can try to persuade us the goals have been met – perhaps by limiting Europe to the EU, or by redefining the speed within a band which begins at just 15 Mbps.

Do you feel more or less optimistic than 6-months ago about the development of “superfast” broadband in the UK?

• 2% were a lot more optimistic
• 20% were a little more optimistic
• 5% felt it was too difficult to call
• 40% were a little more pessimistic
• 33% were a lot more pessimistic

So a clear majority (73%) are feeling less happy about the way we are progressing towards our digital future than at the beginning of the year. This didn’t surprise me – I can’t remember the last conversation I had with anyone in the industry that felt things were moving along nicely, and certainly confidence in BDUK’s ability to deliver seems to have taken a major knock in recent weeks.

I have to come clean now – the reason I set the poll was to cheer me up. I was hoping the message coming back would be that its not as bad as I thought and I should look for the positives because they’re clearly out there. Sadly the clear majority feel at least as depressed as I do.

The poll was set up to be anonymous – I’d really like the 2% who are more optimistic and the 14% of who think the BDUK framework is helpful to contact me and tell me why they are more positive than the majority. I won’t publish names if you prefer, but I’d really like to see the more positive side.

So if you said you’re more optimistic or you felt the BDUK framework is a good thing – contact me! Please!

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