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Digital Infrastructure

Homes & Buildings

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The provision of high quality digital infrastructure should be available to all in our society. Digital infrastructure provides for social inclusion and makes people a part of everyday society and community. It enables people to work from home with economic benefits for businesses and by creating selfemployment and fostering entrepreneurship. It can also ease congestion on our roads.  

Broadband connectivity

Failing to provide adequate digital infrastructure risks marginalising people in our society and can contribute to negative aspects of people’s health and wellbeing. 

The Government’s Future Telecom Infrastructure Review states that all new homes and developments should be provisioned with fullfibre broadband connections (i.e. fibre-to-the-premise). These connections should also offer business tenants and residents a choice of broadband services that they can subscribe to.  

Provision should also be made for multiple broadband infrastructure providers to access the site to maximise the choice of broadband services. Exclusivity’ deals with any one network provider should be avoided. 

Planning for digital infrastructure 

It is important that digital infrastructure is designed and planned for at an early stage. Most broadband infrastructure providers require between 9-12 months’ notice to install connections so that they are available for use once the build is completed. Broadband infrastructure providers will often provide full-fibre connections free of charge as long as sufficient notice is given to avoid the need for more expensive and disruptive retrofitting. 

Mobile connectivity 

Developers should: 

  • Consider conducting mobile signal tests within the development and consider the need for in-building mobile solutions where coverage is poor. 
  • Take appropriate mitigation measures to avoid reducing mobile connectivity in surrounding areas. 

Developers should also engage with mobile network operators at the earliest opportunity to: 

  • Ensure that there is adequate mobile capacity to meet the needs of an increased number of local mobile users. 
  • Consider how the deployment of fibre to the site (for broadband connections) could be used to serve new mobile infrastructure where required.