BT is trying to disguise its true costs to supply next generation broadband to the Final Third by adding overheads, new job types and not reducing costs where these jobs are already accounted for.
If BT’s proposals are accepted, local authorities could pay almost twice the actual costs, and BT will not have to match public funds with its own.
In addition to direct and planning costs, BT asks for state aid to cover “Availability payments” and bonuses for customer connections. Based on a financial model (see table below) of a 20% take-up from 100,000 homes passed, this would raise the public contribution to BT’s roll-out from £11.4m to £22m.
BDUK’s CEO Robert Sullivan declined to be interviewed on the apparent doubling of roll-out costs, saying he was “not allowed to” speak to the press. However, in response to a question from Br0kenTeleph0n3, he told a Westminister e-Forum conference the reference financial model is critical to setting a comparable starting point for all BDUK-funded procurements. Insuring that local authorities received value for money is an important part of BDUK’s value-add, but it is a complex regulatory issue, he said.
An internal BDUK discussion paper seen by Br0kenTeleph0n3 shows the DCMS agency preparing to question BT’s financial proposals for its fibre to the cabinet roll-out in the Final Third.
The proposals aim to justify BT’s claim for state aid for bringing access to broadband speeds above 2Mbps for download to people living in areas considered commercially unviable under a BDUK procurement framework. The BDUK analysis aims to establish a challenge to the value for money offered by BT’s proposals.
No comments:
Post a Comment