Interview

With full fibre success stories in full flow it is easy to forget that the sector is impacted by the same tempestuous economic conditions as the rest of the UK.

Flomatik CEO Dean Checkley confesses that 2021 was a tough year for the business, a feeling shared by many, but with a new target operating model for 2022, he states the business is now ready to move from surviving, to thriving.

Fibre cable systems use far less energy than copper cables, perhaps seven times less, but this statistic alone is not enough for altnets to consider their job done as the UK searches for sustainability best practice.

The UK’s fibre rollout is driving innovation, but the reverse is also true and innovative fibre providers will gain the edge in a saturated market.

According to Ofcom estimates, Altnet fibre deployment exceeded the Openreach build machine for the first time this January, but ‘overbuild’ without customer uptake could threaten further fibre expansion.

We’re the fifth largest global economy and yet when it comes to broadband, we’re 48th for internet service provider download speeds according to World Population Review – way behind leaders Monaco, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The demand for skilled workers continues to grow as altnets scale up their operations, but the limited labour market means attracting and retaining talent has become an industry wide issue.  

There’s a lot of buoyancy in the telecoms industry with people looking to invest in the infrastructure that will support a UK-wide gigabit-capable future.

Full fibre is a critical asset for families and businesses post-covid, but marketing departments must work hard to ensure that engagement with customers is early, positive and clear.

Product availability issues and disruption to supply chains are likely to plague altnets for some time to come, warned Comtec Head of FTTx Sales and Business Developments John Greene, who explained how the company is helping to offset these impacts.