A number of studies commissioned by UK fibre manufacturer CityFibre have "identified over £38 billion of potential economic benefits" thanks to its full fibre deployment in 285 cities, towns and villages across the UK.
The report, compiled on behalf of consulting firm Hatch, claims that the potential economic impact over a 15-year period includes £22 billion in productivity gains, £4.8 billion from an expanded workforce, £1.2 billion from flexible working and the creation of 16,000 jobs. Faster connectivity increases business productivity, innovation, turnover and helps create new companies and business models. More widespread fibre also helps to support a cultural shift towards working from home, which would surely be more painful without decent and reliable home connectivity.
This report also says that in addition to the economic benefits listed, CityFibre's infrastructure will help unlock £53 billion of GVA from 5G services, £16 billion from the Internet of Things, and £9.3 billion from future smart city initiatives.
"This report demonstrates the power of Full Fiber in elevating the UK," said CityFibre's Chief Executive Officer. "The digital infrastructure race is driving billions of pounds of private investment from incumbents and challengers, with every pound driving economic growth, new jobs and more efficient public services in some of the country's most deprived areas. We are delighted to see the impact of our contribution and we look forward to playing an even greater role in the future."
The director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership added: "This report by CityFibre highlights the huge productivity gains that Full Fiber can bring to the economy and is a key part of the upgrade, with the North of England set to benefit most from privately led investment. It is now the government's role to ensure that any public investment maximizes its objectives by piggybacking on these benefits gained from effective competition."
Overall, there is certainly a significant amount of fibre deployment in the UK, with ICT Technologies announcing that it has secured a further £100m investment from Aviva Investors for fibre deployment, and Openreach and Hyperoptic announcing expansion of their deployment plans to new locations.
Rather than somehow trying to unpack every pound of CityFibre's own contribution to the macroeconomic picture, a more general endorsement of rising connectivity might make a firmer statement, but we'll seize on that anyway Overall, better connectivity is bound to help the economy grow and enable a changing business landscape.
