ISPreview Poll Finds Support for GBP5bn of Public Money to be Spent on FTTP

London, United Kingdom, February 20, 2019 –(PR.com)– A new online survey of 2,110 ISPreview.co.uk readers conducted between 2nd January and 14th February 2019, which is a consumer orientated telecoms advice website, has claimed that 66% of respondents in the United Kingdom think that spending around GBP 5bn (£) of taxpayers money to ensure nationwide coverage of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) ultrafast broadband by 2033 is a better investment than putting the same funding toward public services (hospitals etc.).

Nevertheless many respondents do not expect to see FTTP arrive in their area for many years and 17% believe it will “NEVER” reach them.

Question – How long do you think it will be before full fibre (FTTP) broadband reaches your area?
5-10 Years – 23%
2-5 Years – 19%
Never- 17%
10-15 Years – 17%
I can get it now! – 11.5%
1 Year – 6%
2 Years – 6%

Question – The UK government may have to invest c.£5bn of taxpayers money to ensure nationwide coverage of FTTP by 2033. Do you support this cost?
Yes – 70%
No – 17%
Maybe – 13%

Question – Some say such funding would be better spent on hospitals or other public services. Do you agree?
No – FTTP fuels growth – 66%
Yes – Forget FTTP – 17.5%
Unsure – 16.5%

Mark Jackson, ISPreview.co.uk’s Editor-in-Chief, said: “Last year the Government’s Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) suggested that nationwide availability of full fibre was likely to require public funding of around £3bn to £5bn to support commercial investment in the final 10% of areas. Clearly most of the respondents to our survey appear to support that sort of investment and only 17.5% are certain that it would be better spent on improving public services (hospitals, police etc.).”

“Deploying better broadband connectivity has in the past been shown to deliver an economic boost and it’s thus hoped that investing to ensure nationwide coverage of FTTP may eventually pay for itself, not least by delivering more growth that could in turn support public services. Nevertheless the roll-out of FTTP, which requires a lot of slow, expensive and complicated civil engineering, is for most people still seen as being reflective of a very long wait until the service arrives.”