Meeting documents

To take the opportunity to assess what access there is to infrastructure across Dorset in order to stimulate and support economic growth in by physical, technological and digital means, including:-

·         Mobile Phone Coverage in Dorset – 4G /5G

To consider a report by the Head of ICT and Customer Services in determining what coverage there is, what can be done to improve this and by what means and to identify areas without a signal, what investment will be needed and how will this be provided.

·         Progress being made with the rollout of Superfast Broadband

Following the meeting on 27 January 2017, to receive a Powerpoint presentation by the Senior Project Manager to determine what progress is being made against identified objectives in respect of the rollout of Superfast Broadband.

·         Members’ ICT Toolkit

Acknowledgement of access to the Members’ ICT Toolkit for Superfast Broadband, what this entails and what it is designed to achieve.

Mobile Coverage

The Committee considered a report by the Head of ICT and Customer Services on the extent of mobile coverage in Dorset and what the County Council was doing to play their part in ensuring improvements were made to this. It was considered that sustained efforts should be made with mobile network operators, on a more regular and elevated basis, to assist them in their ability to improve 4G connectivity across the county.

It was acknowledged that as mobile digital communications were now an integral part of everyday life and essential for social integration and economic prosperity, there was a need for coverage to be as accessible as it could be. Good coverage was also essential to be able to address social and rural isolation and on health and safety grounds.

Officers explained what both 4G and 5G entailed and had to offer. The difference between the two technologies was explained - including their density of coverage; their speeds; and how each system could be readily applied. Whilst the challenges associated with the coverage of a rural county were recognised, there were alternative arrangements available which could be applied in certain circumstances to enhance coverage.

The prospect of using the County Council’s assets on which mobile infrastructure could be sited was acknowledged and would be pursued wherever practicable.

The Committee acknowledged that good 4G coverage was essential to enable public sector transformation to take place and how this could be applied in the delivery of services. Furthermore, satisfactory 4G coverage was essential in supporting key economic sectors grow and was particularly significant in the agricultural, advanced engineering and tourism sectors which would be directly enhanced with improved 4G coverage.

In ensuring that Dorset was seen to be a desirable business destination - where business could be done wherever necessary - it was seen to be essential that coverage was as good as it possibly could be. The Committee were pleased to learn what the County Council was doing to improve coverage and enhance its quality and that its commitment to improving coverage, with the development of its Mobile Project - with identified objectives, outputs and outcomes - going a long way towards achieving this.

Resolved

That having seen how improvements to mobile coverage were being delivered and what outcomes were being achieved, and having reviewed the sections set out in Section 5 of the report , the Committee were satisfied with what was currently being done.

Reason for Decision

To better understand mobile data coverage (4G) in Dorset and influence commercial plans for improved coverage of both 4G and, in time, 5G mobile data services.

Progress on Superfast Broadband

Arising from a commitment made at the Committee meeting on 25 January 2017- to update members on progress being made - with the aid of a visual presentation, the Committee took the opportunity to understand what progress was being made in implementing the County Councils’ Digital Infrastructure Strategy, what this entailed, how it was applied and the progress being made in making connectivity improvements. The Committee was informed that the Strategy was designed to set out the overall vision and approach to transform Dorset into a digital economy in order to fully realise strategic benefits of economic growth, digital inclusion, transformation of public services and opportunities for individuals and communities across Dorset.

The Head of ICT and Customer Services outlined progress being made in the delivery of the Superfast Broadband Programme and what this entailed. This

included what Superfast Dorset had already been able to achieve; what might be able to be achieved and, critically, what was being done to extend coverage to hard to reach communities which had limited, little or no reception. The Committee’s attention was drawn to the practicalities and technicalities of delivering the project and what was being done to improve accessibility to it. The Superfast Dorset project aimed to deliver the most appropriate Superfast Broadband solution practicable, maximising benefits in a cost effective manner across the business and domestic community where it was not deemed to be otherwise commercially viable. It was considered that the Strategy provided a basis for the successful delivery of superfast broadband.

The presentation included reference to the speed and coverage of broadband, and the opportunities for Mobile 4G/5G to play a part in this, as well as the funding  and contractual arrangements in place and emerging national policy objectives.  How communities could be encouraged to contribute towards the means of initiating schemes to meet their particular needs via the Community Fibre Partnership arrangements and through the demand led, Superfast Dorset Community Broadband Fund available to them was described. Community lead schemes were a critical means of addressing particular local broadband provision issues which might not otherwise be able to be achieved. Critical to the success of the Programme was take up. Much thought was being given to how this might be best encouraged. It was hoped that once the benefits were seen, then take up would escalate markedly. It was seen to be in the interests of all that this happened.

Members were informed what Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) was able to achieve in comparison to Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) and how the relationship between the cabinet and the premises determined what broadband speeds were available to an individual property. The technologies associated with this, including Ultrafast, were explained briefly and how these were being applied and delivered and what practicalities there were. Innovations in technologies to improve how broadband could be delivered were constantly evolving.

The Committee had the opportunity to assess the progress being made and how improvements could continue to be made for accessibility to broadband. It was

considered that the benefits to Dorset from this could well lead to the generation of significant economic and social prosperity. The Committee recognised that delivering the Superfast Broadband initiative was integral to the delivery of services in a more direct, flexible and accessible way.

Members were optimistic that the technical provision contained within the ‘green cabinets’ could have the scope and capacity to deliver the most advanced technologies that were available, if at all possible. They also considered that greater emphasis should be placed on connectivity to residential properties, rather than to commercial premises, given the benefits which could be derived by the individual from doing this. There was also a request that the availability of provision be made equitably across the County and, as the further work progressed, those benefits would be seen.

The Committee acknowledged how important digital connectivity was considered to be for the prosperity of Dorset and having the means to access it was considered to be essential. Giving all residents the same opportunity to access it was an obligation the Council was determined to fulfil and all was being done to achieve this.

Whilst appreciating the principle of the Strategy and what it was designed to achieve,

the Committee considered that there was now the need to identify more readily how

outcomes could be delivered and by whatever means was possible and practical. Of particular importance to the Committee was to know how improvements might

continue to be delivered, with a specific view to identifying solutions to meet the

needs of those currently having limited, little or no broadband services/speeds and to understand what was being done to achieve this.

Members appreciated the commitment being made to try to identify a means by which Superfast Broadband provision might be made more readily accessible to all communities within Dorset and how this was anticipated to be delivered. Members thanked officers for their presentation and, in now having a better understanding of what the issues were and what was being done to address them, were pleased to see what progress was being made.

Members’ and Stakeholders ICT Toolkit

The Head of ICT and Customer services explained what the Members’ and Stakeholders’ ICT toolkit entailed and how it could be applied. It was designed to provide the means of explaining to communities how to get the best out of Superfast Broadband, what options there were for access to it and how to go about getting it. In having this, the means of better informing the public about what options they had, what benefits these brought and how best to go about it could be achieved.  

The Committee welcomed this development and were pleased to see it being put into practice. Members recognised that the way people were living and working was changing rapidly and the application of this toolkit would go a long way to helping them achieve all that they could. The Chairman was keen to see Skype better utilised generally in council business and meetings, where this was practicable.     

Noted