A round table debate hosted by Comms Dealer in association with Entanet provided a platform for comms channel players to discuss the main growth inhibitors in the competitive business connectivity marketplace where customer expectations are high. Dominating the agenda were service deployment issues and the inefficacy of Ofcom to change the status quo, leading to calls for the comms industry itself to seize the initiative.
We proffer the promise of productivity gains and cost efficiencies, but the industry in most need of such attention is our own. Comms resellers in the connectivity doldrums are stymied by their inability to give the market that they serve what it wants, through no fault of their own. And there is little sign of any real improvements. "As an industry we are embarrassing and stuck in the 19th century in terms of delivery," emphasised Gary Pooley, Alliances Director, Hosting and Networks, Fujitsu UK. "This is stunting growth. We must raise awareness and make politicians realise that a proper telecoms infrastructure goes hand in hand with a modern forward thinking digital economy. We need to stand up as an industry and urge Ofcom to focus on business. How can the Government deny that as an objective?"
Our round table delegates see BT and Ofcom in thrall to consumers and far less focused on the needs of businesses and their connectivity requirements. Fraser Ferguson, founder and Director of Kube Networks, underlined the point using BT's profits as a lynchpin to his argument. "Openreach delivered profits of £1.4 billion into the Group this year," he said. "BT will spend £6 billion over next three years on infrastructure - £4 billion will be invested into mobile masts and £2 billion into residential services. This will enable me to watch football on a mobile or at home. But it's not about business. And Ofcom is hopeless. Pressure to strip Openreach out of the Group must come from the industry because the Government doesn't know what a digital economy is. It's all about connectivity."
Too many politicians repeatedly bang on about 'Digital Britain' as if by rote, oblivious to the mountain that has to be climbed to put in the business grade connectivity infrastructure upon which their strategy depends, and they are blissfully unaware that their digital agenda is edging ever closer towards becoming a farcical project. So what's going wrong? Blame cannot be laid squarely at BT's door because it is itself part of a bigger picture. This is ultimately a symptom of Government failure because there is no high level enforcement of accountability.
Meanwhile, many businesses continue to suffer the consequences. According to the Broadbad report from the British Infrastructure Group (January 2016), 42 per cent of SMEs experience problems with their Internet connectivity while 29 per cent also experience poor service reliability. Not surprising when you consider that ADSL is essentially a consumer product with no business grade SLAs (and FTTC is subject to contention). David Donnelly, Director of Midland Networks, noted: "As an industry we must be more open with customers about the limitations of broadband and suggest they consider an alternative because of the downsides. Nobody tells users that their broadband could be down for a week."
Yet it's not a case of finding someone to blame, someone to vilify, it is more a question of how to confront head-on these very serious and costly issues and enforce a workable solution. At one point the debate turned to financial figures that are simply unbelievable, but absolutely true and add great emphasis to the seriousness of a situation that is only fully understood by those adversely affected at both ends of the supply chain. "We recently calculated our provisioning costs compared to three years ago," stated Ferguson. "It's costing us £150k more now just to manage the carriers."
There were plenty of moments in the round table discussion when accountability for delivery and service levels were top of mind. "The availability of connectivity is an embarrassing conversation with customers and may ruin the client relationship," commented Chris Morrisey, Managing Director, Lily Comms. "We back-peddle and we manage the situation but with a lot of egg on our face. This is frustrating because we try to build excellence where we can. If we had more support from the networks we'd have more clients and more business."
Despite Openreach's good intentions there lacks a consistent concept of deploying leased lines. Such basic processes as surveys often advance in fits and starts, resellers are clobbered by unexpected excess charges as a result, and end user planning is obliterated by delays. "One of our customers is moving offices and ordered a 100mb leased line in October for its new premises," stated Colin Woods, Sales Manager, South West Communications. "The current building is being demolished in June. At the moment I have an Openreach date of September. Surveys have turned out to be part-surveys and we get excess charges over and over again. This harms our company, our industry, and prevents business growth. If we let customers down the chances of getting future business from them is remote. And it's not our fault."
Elsa Chen, Entanet's CEO, put her finger on one of the main causal factors. "Equivalence of Input may have an unintended effect on Openreach's service culture," she explained. "There seems to be more of a can't-do rather than can-do attitude in Openreach which creates a problem for the industry that is heavily relying on its service delivery."
When asked, delegates said one thing loud and clear, they want more Ofcom accountability and support from BT, someone to hear and act on their complaints, in true partnership, rather than be perpetual supplicants at the gates of BT Tower. But that someone is currently denied them. So little wonder there can, on occasion, be strong reactions.
"One of my biggest frustrations is the lack of transparency when there is an issue," explained Dave Corgat, Managing Director, Arcus Services (and former owner of Rainbow Telecom). "Why not have a screen shot made available to prove that the issue is with BT? I'm told that can't happen. Sometimes our major suppliers don't help us. But surely there is a case for wholesale partners to share fault information, or at least have a communication to help pacify customers. This affects our business."
The appearance of Ofcom's initial conclusions in its Strategic Review of Digital Communications in February did little to stir hope as it shied away from a BT-Openreach split, a move that some believe would help the industry significantly. "Ofcom didn't bring out a big stick, it brandished a feather duster," stated Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing, Entanet. "Not enough noise was made to implement real change and force Openreach to prevent delays from getting worse. But there's enough power in the industry to turn up the volume and get our voice heard."
Government pressure could have forced Ofcom to go further in its findings, rather than facilitate an industry crisis that must rank as one of the saddest episodes in the sector's history. If nothing else, it shows the power of industry monoliths, in any sector, to wield their wealth and keep blinkered politicians in thrall of their wants. BT's iconic tower looms large over London and casts a far reaching shadow. But it is also a beacon of immense possibilities.
A blueprint for reform should be professionally targeted at Number 10 as an unsanitised version of Ofcom's document in a sign of comms industry virility and determination. It is both a last resort and a first step. "Enough is enough," stated Morrisey. "Let's put some credibility into our industry and create an environment where we can go to the Government and Ofcom and say you're not doing the job for us. Let's become a bigger voice to be heard. We need a vehicle to communicate with Ofcom and collectively we must get behind the endeavour."
The conclusion so far is that the monolithic character of the BT Group and a toothless Ofcom are driving comms suppliers down a clear path towards self-determined action. For the round table delegates there is no other option. They say it would be foolish to rely on the industry watchdog as our chief lobbying asset. The channel is galvanising, and Ofcom should see a warning sign. Why? Because deployment and quality of service issues are impacting on comms resellers and their customers. And while they seethe, the Government continues to beat a triumphant drum in support of its achievements in creating a Digital Britain that is fit for the future.•
BITES FROM THE TABLE
Connectivity is not fully understood at both ends of the chain. The Government needs educating as much as end users to understand the complexity required of the digital economy. But the solution lies with the industry.
Elsa Chen, CEO, Entanet
Perhaps the future isn't fibre but an airborne mobile solution. The technology exists. Fibre is the copper of tomorrow.
Neil Poultney, MD Vodat International
We need to consider how we collectively help change the political sway, and ultimately how Openreach operates.
Stephen Barclay, Sales Director, Entanet
Dark fibre tax is an underlying problem that's costing all of us. Carriers are petrified of fibre tax, and we don't yet know what it will look like.
Fraser Ferguson, founder of Kube Networks
There's too much ignorance about the difference between business grade connectivity and what people use at home.
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing, Entanet
We should push harder to get services quicker. It's what customers need. We all have a strong voice and must stick together as a group.
Neil Barrell, MD, Telecoms World