All aboard for the joys of hereditament courtesy Alan Bradford VOA

All that is is a unit af rateing assessment, RV is the annual value of the hereditament

Valuation date – 2 years before a list goes live – 1 April 2008 for 1 April 2010 list

Rateable Occupier – seems to be the problem area – person able to occupy the hereditament – this is a matter of fact  – can’t contract out of being a rate payer although you can of course contract out of paying the bill.

Main difference between central list and local list – local must be contiguous so if you have eg London and Manchester networks that are connected by your own fibre then treated as one hereditament else two separate H (Hereditament)

Control of use is rate payer definition e.g. lessee of Dark Fibre (local loop unbundling is exception here)

Rateable to Wall Socket in Domestic Premises ditto Business Premises – infrastructure beyond that point is included in assessment of eg Office Block

VOA produces the valuations and these can be challenged on evidence basis – methodology of rating, so can quantum of the valuation.

Case Law – recent challenges, EU Commission, Appeals Court has upheld

The present Fibre Tone is designed around long haul backhaul not First Mile Access

VOA is looking to Cable TV – £7.50 per homes passed, looking at  a rateable value  – starting point based on 38% penetration around £20 per home connected

SME treated similarly for Access purposes – point to point links treated as regular H as they are perceived to have greater value.

NGA Operators have ultimate control of RV – VOA follow what we do…

More specifics to follow.

It seems that VOA valuing BT assets is put into the too-hard basket (might take 6 months with BT cooperation to derive the actual RV of Fibre)

What does the market expect to pay? is a key VOA valuation question

Another key test is capability to be used and this has significant scope for interpretation by VOA – such action being warranted as it is recognised that rates are designed for property not telecoms and with the caveat that operators should not rock the boat…

It is recognised by VOA that rates are best suited to matured, established steady state networks and that the rapid growth (we hope!) phase of FttH deployment is not well suited to revenue and earnings (R&E) assessment, hence the analogy to cable TV for assessment purposes.

Assumed Altnet will be connecting many First Mile connections as if there were single or few First Mile connections then these are assumed by VOA  to be high value… therefore point to point route-Km charged.

Worth noting that BT copper loop even if unbundled is still treated as BT Cumulo Central List i.e. not Altnet responsibility (though Altnet will pick up that cost from BT no doubt!)

Interesting point that empty telecoms ducts are non rateable.

FttH P2P case is also worthy of note – same treatment as GPON – RV based on willingness to pay by end-user (thanks AntonyW) and is assumed at present to be broadly similar.

Bottom line seems to be, based on £20 RV per home/SME connected gives roughly £1 per month incl VAT FttH surcharge.

Scots response – basic principles are mirrored in Scotland aspects of who is rateable are the same – change in Scotland, Renfrewshire assessor – network in more than one county then will appear in Renfrewshire listing…

Material change aspects in Scotland, legislation allows only 1 year and no further back, this is difference from England & Wales.

Informal gathering of a couple of dozen interested parties from industry, community and public sectors, kindly hosted by Tref Davies here at Timico HQ Newark and organised by Lindsey Annison, long-time agent provocateuse

What is interesting is the spread of projects across the UK represented and the different stages that each group or company are at.

Aidan Paul, CEO Vtesse Networks, giving his inimitable perspective on business rates – 1601 poor relief act of Elizabeth I being where it all dates back…. with such delights as the Window Tax along the way

More to follow…

Newton and Stape (NANDS) are two adjoining parishes in deeply rural North Yorkshire where conventional broadband is patchy at best and non-existent for the majority of the 140+ homes and businesses present.

The NextGenUs NANDS project is the first of its kind in North Yorkshire and it is hoped that NANDS can be replicated to enable other local rural communities in the county of North Yorkshire and nationally to likewise benefit from super-fast symmetric connectivity.

Read more about this practical example of Notspot Elimination over at the NextGenUs blog

This is an example of where our shiny computer technology ends up.

http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/14643

Whilst recycling is a good thing we should never forget the risks to health endured by the kids in Ghana who are doing the hard work for us.

Food for thought.

Copied below, with appropriate approvals, is a recent BIS email to a rural UK Community ISP.

Worthy of note is the reference to BT ducting being blocked at some point for every one of the 31 route examples quoted!

A better way to assess the true situation re actual BT duct spare capacity availability is to perform a more representative and comprehensive study across various geo-types

- the NextGenUs hypothesis being that rural locations will have a significantly higher percentage of available BT ducting than the single metronode example given.

Put simply:

If there is no space left in ducts etc, then what is occupying the space and what useful work is it doing?

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Thank you for your emails of 27 October, 13 November and 16 November to Stephen Timms on above subject. I have been asked to reply, and I apologise for the delay in doing so.

On the specific issue of using BT’s poles and underground ductings, Ofcom have been looking at how duct and pole access could be part of the mix of options for delivering Next Generation Access (NGA) in the UK. They have been doing this through their duct surveys and by looking at what has been achieved in other countries, and this issue will be included in their Wholesale Local Access Review consultation which is due to begin in Jan 2010.

It is worth pointing out that duct and pole access on its own would not provide straightforward options to deliver NGA, and there are limitations which will need to be overcome before this option is achievable.  For example, in a survey carried out as part of Ofcom’s work on NGA, of 31 paths between the metro node and the exchange, Ofcom found that all had at least one section where there was very little unoccupied space.  This means that, even with duct access, communications providers would probably need to build new duct in at least some locations.  However, on the other hand, duct and pole access could reduce the cost of market entry, be deployed quickly and make good use of existing infrastructure, which is why Ofcom is currently assessing its viability.

In terms of funding, the Digital Britain Report, published in June, set out the Government’s plans for a Universal Service Commitment for broadband of 2Mbps for homes across the country by 2012.  The Government has committed £200m of public funds to help deliver this, with the remainder of the costs being met from the private sector through in-kind contributions, competitive commercial pricing through tender contract and design, and contributions from other public sector organisations.  The Government is currently discussing with stakeholders the technical specification of the USC and how the procurement might be structured.  We expect that the procurement process itself is likely to start next Spring and all stakeholders will have the opportunity to submit their proposals for evaluation in due course.