Each day, employees who are working from home or taking a hybrid approach to their day-to-day are using a variety of methods in order to both maintain productivity and reduce any feelings of isolation when they’re away from colleagues and the office environment.
Connectivity plays a vital role throughout too because without the ability to stay in touch with others and complete important tasks, this can have a huge impact morale, motivation, performance, and wellbeing.
To help drive forward a greater level of connectivity, the UK Government has committed £5 billion in investment for ‘Project Gigabit’ – a roll-out programme to provide 85% nationwide gigabit coverage by 2025.
And following the recent Autumn report, Nadine Dorries, the secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, stated it should go even further and “push further towards 100% coverage,” – expected by 2030.
While on the surface this is fantastic news for the UK – and it’s positive to read that “more than 57% of UK homes and businesses (17.5 million properties) can now access faster broadband speeds,” – there is still a lot to be done.
Collaboration is key
Simply put, connectivity projects cannot progress as swiftly and efficiently in isolation. For plans to move forward at the pace that’s required, there’s a huge amount of collaboration involved.
And for the Government to reach these ambitious targets recently announced, experts in the field are needed who know exactly what it takes – and the pitfalls to avoid – when it comes to successfully rolling out complex builds at speed. Network providers, planners, telecoms operators, wholesalers, local authorities, housing associations and landowners, they all have a different part to play in the great quest for connectivity but when they come together, they each play to their strengths in order to work towards the same goal.
To put things into context, when it comes to providing faster broadband, it’s not simply a case of digging up roads, putting in cables, selling subscription packages to residents and getting people to input a WiFi code to get online. It would be naïve to think that’s all that goes into these types of incredibly vital and complex projects. There are intricacies involved throughout each phase – and only specialists know exactly what they must do, in order to roll-out a successful programme.
For example, a previous WeAreTechWomen blog goes into the immense detail that’s required for full fibre plans to reach completion, and what the hidden complexities are to overcome. Experts should be able to identify any of these pitfalls at the earliest opportunity, and if they don’t, that small initial oversight can lead to a far greater problem – setting a project back by months at a time.
The right questions need to be asked, such as, ‘do we need to apply for Code powers?’, ‘what budget has been allocated for acquiring wayleave agreements?’, and ‘should we involve a third-party specialist to liaise with freeholders and allow for network expansion?’ All these answers need to be provided to ensure a build is carried out free from glitches.
The good news is, there are authentic experts out there who are true specialists and genuinely passionate about the tech and telecoms sectors. They can provide the intricate detail that’s required for huge programme roll-outs, such as Project Gigabit, to stay firmly on-track.
And collaboration is vital in this instance.
Yes, the word ‘collaborative’ has perhaps been an overused term throughout the current economic climate, but it’s incredibly important if people are to communicate effectively and get critical projects done.
There’s never been a more important time for industry specialists to come together, share knowledge, and work on connectivity solutions as a collective. The sooner this happens, the more likely it is that Project Gigabit will be able to provide universal coverage throughout the UK by 2030.
