The Labour Party has pledged to deliver free fibre broadband for all by 2030 if it wins the general election next month in the UK. This would be achieved by bringing parts of BT into public ownership and creating a new British Broadband public service.
The roll-out would start with communities that have the worst broadband access, including remote/rural communities and some inner city areas, before extending to towns and smaller centres, and then to areas currently well-served by superfast/ultrafast broadband.
The project would be financed by Labour's Green Transformation fund and by taxing multi-national companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon. Labour estimates that its plans would save the average Brit GBP 30.30 per month, and could help reduce commuter journeys by 300 million, reduce the number of car trips by 3 billion km, and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 360,000 tonnes.
Labour will aim to deliver free fibre broadband to at least 15 million premises within five years. The government would own the network that is rolled out, with the projected co-ordinated by the new British Broadband entity. This would have two divisions - British Digital Infrastructure (BDI) to roll out the public network; and British Broadband Service (BBS) to deliver free broadband.
This entity would be created by bringing broadband-relevant parts of BT into public ownership - Openreach, parts of BT Technology (which manages the backhaul network), BT Enterprise (which retails broadband to business) and BT Consumer (which retails broadband to consumers). BT Global Services, Plusnet, EE and BT TV, as well as non-broadband parts of the group, would not be nationalised. All current employees in affected units would be guaranteed jobs in the new public entity with the same or better terms and conditions.
Labour estimates that there would be a one-off capital cost of GBP 15.3 billion to roll-out the full-fibre network. This would be on top of the government's existing (not yet spent) GBP 5 billion commitment to full-fibre. The cost of bringing the BT units into public ownership would be set by Parliament and paid for by swapping bonds for shares. The estimated network maintenance costs of around GBP 230 million a year would be covered by taxing multi-national companies.
The next Labour Government would also introduce a new Charter of Digital Rights to protect data and online rights. This would include powers for individuals/groups to challenge the injustice of online algorithms; powers for groups/individuals to prevent digital infrastructure being used for surveillance; and rights for individuals to protect ownership of and access to their personal data.
BT CEO puts cost at GBP 100 billion
BT Group CEO Philip Jansen responded by saying that Labour was seriously underestimating the cost of its plans. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Jansen said that the plans to build and give away the network would cost around GBP 100 billion. He said that BT would be happy to work with whoever wins the election to help build digital infrastructure, but warned that Labour's plan would not be straightforward. He said that the impact of any changes on BT workers, pensioners, shareholders and investors would need to be thought through carefully.
Trade body TechUK also criticised the proposals, warning that nationalisation would be a disaster for the telecoms sector and its customers. TechUK CEO Julian David said that renationalisation would immediately stop investment being made by BT and rival companies. He added that most of the estimated GBP 30 billion cost of deploying full-fibre networks was being carried by the private sector and renationalisation would put this cost back onto taxpayers. He warned that the plans would lead to years of legal disputes, wasting precious time and setting back the UK digital economy.
The proposals were welcomed by the Communication Workers Union (CWU). General Secretary Dave Ward said that Labour would build a network for the future and help all parts of the country benefit from the digital revolution. He added that the plans would create thousands of good engineering jobs and would be good for the industry, public and workers.
