Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director, Resources.

The Chairman thanked the Head of ICT, Resources, Phil Jackman who was in attendance to give an update to Members in relation to the Digital Durham Programme (for copy see file of minutes).

The Head of ICT reminded Members that the Digital Durham Programme was to provide superfast broadband internet to all the businesses and homes in County Durham.

It was added this was an ambitious task and that Durham County Council (DCC) was working with 9 other Local Authorities in respect of superfast broadband provision.  It was explained that Phase 1 of the programme would deliver 96% coverage with connection speeds of 24 megabits per second, noting Government (Broadband Delivery UK) targets of 90% in Phase 1.  Members noted that the Government target for Phase 2 was 95%, the Digital Durham Programme would already be ahead of this at Phase 1, and that Phase 3 would be to look to provide superfast broadband to the final few areas not covered.  It was explained that the Digital Durham Programme was a retail product for homes and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and did not deliver infrastructure, rather acted a broker for the service.  Members were referred to several updates on progress, 150 fibre cabinets having been enabled and with British Telecom (BT) being ahead of schedule by 3 weeks.  Councillors learned that the tender for Phase 2 was due to close in January, and that a process of advertising the availability of superfast broadband services to stimulate demand was ongoing, with activities including: leaflets/posters/banners; a number of cases studies with families and SMEs; the Digital Durham website; stickers on the fibre cabinets; ICT awareness events; and articles within Council publications.  The Head of ICT noted that the current uptake of superfast broadband was approximately 20% and concluded by noting that the Digital Durham Team had been runner-up at the recent Great Staff, Great Stuff Awards and winners of the Regional Collaboration award at the inaugural Dynamo Awards, an organisation that represents the ICT industry across the region.

The Chairman thanked the Head of ICT and asked as regards any barriers, such as fees, that would prevent community groups taking up superfast broadband.

The Head of ICT explained that the price for the superfast broadband was fixed by the providers, and subject to market forces.  It was added that for most people and many SMEs and organisations a lot of the “off the shelf” products would be sufficient, however, for some larger organisations, such as community centres, may require a more expensive product that provided a greater bandwidth.

Councillors asked questions in relation to: where the final few percent of properties were that would be last to receive superfast broadband; fibre to cabinet versus fibre to the home; difficulties in being able to speak to broadband providers; and the reach of coverage into rural areas.

The Head of ICT explained that the majority of the final 2% to attain coverage would be more rural areas such as Weardale and Teesdale, however, there were pockets within less rural areas, an example being Finchale in Durham.  It was added that as the coverage approached 100%, the final few areas would be those that required a novel technical solution, with some areas not having provision via a cabinet rather a direct line to the exchange and Members were reminded of a Government limit of £1,700 per property in respect of providing superfast broadband access.  It was explained that fibre to the home was a more expensive option, however, it was noted that while the speeds from the cabinet degraded by roughly half for every kilometre from the cabinet, BT were looking at technology to have 1Gbps at the cabinet, as opposed to 100Mbps currently and this would then help to ensure good speeds for those further from cabinets.  The Head of ICT noted that while the Local Authorities had a good working relationship with BT Openreach, the part of the company dealing with infrastructure, there were numerous broadband service providers and noted that there can be issues in dealing with those companies in some instances. 

Members were reminded that the commitment of the Digital Durham Programme was for 100% superfast broadband provision, however as previously noted, the last few areas would require some new technological solutions. 

Resolved:

(i)          That the report be noted.

(ii)         That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive an update on the development of the Digital Durham Programme at a future meeting of the Committee.