Airband Buffering – the sad state of Devon Internet Connectivity

Are you working from home or running a small business in the South Hams and waiting for that promised really superfast Gigabit broadband to boost your income and productivity?

Well you’ll have to wait some more, because the Government subsidised, local council controlled scheme to bring full fibre broadband into your home has had another setback.
One of the companies involved in building the network, Airband, has been restructured – losing 250 jobs – and has had to admit it can’t meet its contractual obligations.

Places that Airband are no longer going to include Totnes, Dartington, Rattery and South Brent. Large chunks of South and West Devon have been crossed off the Airband map.

Check if you are included at connectingdevonandsomerset.co.uk

According to a press release from Connecting Devon and Somerset – the outfit which procures and manages the multi million pound roll out alongside the Government agency BDUK – it (CDS) is “deeply disappointed”. As having access to superfast (ie the new Giga stuff) broadband is considered as “a growth and prosperity engine” – according to the CEO of BT Openreach – it’s hardly surprising. Rural areas are considered to need subsidy because businesses prefer to go to more profitable cities and towns first. Both the last Government and this one accept that 20 per cent of the country isn’t commercially viable for the telecoms companies to spend the millions needed by 2030, when it’s hoped we will all be luxuriating in gigabit broadband. (The previous target was five years earlier in 2025).

It seems that even the five BILLION pounds being provided by the Government in Project Gigabit to connect hard to reach areas -yes you, down that country lane or on top of the moor – isn’t enough of a carrot to get some firms motivated.

Superfast broadband does not have a single definition. Ofcom defines superfast broadband as download speeds greater than 30 Mbps.

The CDS press release says: “CDS contracted with broadband supplier Airband, initially in 2016 to deliver fixed wireless infrastructure and additionally in late 2020 to rollout fibre broadband networks to communities across Devon and Somerset, with four contracts originally due to conclude at the end of 2024. In total, Airband is contracted to deliver 55,493 premises. To date the operator has delivered 18,794 premises in collaboration with CDS. However, following Airband’s restructure earlier this year, the company is seeking to maximise take up across its existing network while slowing down on build activity which means it can no longer complete its contracted build for CDS in full. As a result, in April, Airband sought a change to its contract.”

Airband has agreed to work on another 8,277 premises but that still only takes its contribution to about half of what it was contracted to do.

In 2020 Airband secured a £25.5 million contract for connecting homes in the South Hams and elsewhere, work which was due to be finished at the end of this year. The money was part of £80 million in all, split between Airband and two other companies, Truespeed and Wessex Internet. The cash comes from the Government, via its agency Building Digital UK, the county councils and European funds.
Yet it seems that even with these subsidies, it’s a struggle to get the work done.

Councillor Rufus Gilbert, CDS Board Member and Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Economic Recovery and Skills, said: “Sadly we’re in a position where we have little choice other than to scale back these contracts with Airband. The company is unable to fulfil its contractual obligations, which is deeply disappointing for us and the communities that have been waiting for a decent broadband connection. A lot of work has gone into coming to an agreement on what they can now complete, and we’re urging BDUK to work with us to find solutions to the communities that are missing out.”

Kash Rahman, MD at Airband, said: “We’ve had to make tough decisions on our build activity this year and we are sorry if this news comes as a disappointment to residents who are left waiting for better connectivity. We have come to an agreement with CDS and will continue building the fibre network, albeit scaled back from the original contracted number. The region is an important part of our network, we have worked hard to deliver against engineering challenges, and we will continue to deliver better broadband for people who need it. I’m really proud of the team for the work done to date.”

Connecting Devon and Somerset has succeeded in helping 326,000 premises get access to FFBB, and those counties are 93 per cent covered. That’s above the UK average. Those in the remaining seven per cent are the poor relations, internet wise.

The UK Government defines a gigabit capable connection as one that can support speeds of 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). 1 Gbps is equal to 1000Mbps.

CDS has hit procurement snags before. Industry watchers ISPreview reported that a contract with Gigaclear was scrapped after significant delays in 2019. And in 2022 contracts with Bath-based Truespeed were terminated after delays. Covid was one of the reasons cited. The contract with Wessex Internet remains in place.

BUFFERING

Meanwhile, CDS and BDUK are discussing “alternative options” to Airband.
Cllr Mike Rigby, CDS board member from Somerset, said: ”There’s no escaping the fact these are not easy times for the industry as many alternative network providers have slowed their build. If it was easy and profitable to build fibre broadband networks in rural areas, it would have been done commercially by now.”
He added:”For those not included in Airband’s ongoing delivery, CDS will do everything it can to help communities get a connection.”