U.K. to Discuss Blueprint of Johnson’s Fiber Plan With CEOs

Boris Johnson promised to bring fiber broadband to every U.K. home by 2025 in his bid for the most important job in the land, according to Bloomberg. Now comes the difficult part.

To have any chance of success, the Prime Minister must first convince telecommunications executives there is a profit opportunity. “The productivity of the nation isn’t in my business case,“ Philip Jansen, chief executive of former state monopoly BT Group, said last month.

Currently in the U.K., fiber lines carry data over long distances to a neighborhood box, and copper lines connect the box to nearby homes. BT has drawn up proposals for switching off copper networks by 2027. The U.K. badly lags European neighbors in full fiber, which reaches only 8% of British premises compared to about 90% of homes in Portugal and 70% in Spain. The reason is a combination of political will and local circumstances.

A study commissioned last year by British officials suggested that Spain’s dominant phone company, Telefonica, opted for a faster fiber network build than U.K. counterpart BT as it faced greater competitive pressure. A law has obliged construction firms to include fiber ducts in new buildings since 2000.

In the U.K., fewer people live in apartment blocks, driving up installation costs. A similar construction law has been drafted for Britain, but the political disruption around Brexit has delayed its ratification. Then there’s the challenge of turning a profit on the investment. If consumers get fiber, will they all pay for it?

Officials and lawmakers hoping to speed things up have been distracted by Brexit, while Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament cuts down the already small amount of time to push through legislation. Churn at the top of government hasn’t helped: the Digital Secretary NickyMorgan is the fourth person to hold her post in two years and the growing prospect of another national election means yet more uncertainty.