Mind the gaps (20 September 2000) Local loop unbundling has been stealthily brought forward from its original date of 1 June 2001 and, now that the prolonged consultation process is over, events are gathering pace. Very soon we will know who wants to put equipment in each of the several thousand BT local exchanges. There are over thirty organisations interested and some have already said what they will be doing: for example, Redstone Telecom is interested in five hundred exchanges and Torch Telecom one thousand. So many people will eventually have a choice - and, in densely populated areas, possibly quite a considerable choice - of narrowband (voice, telephone modem) and broadband (xDSL) telecommunications. But there will be many people who will have no choice, and quite possibly no broadband access at all, in the foreseeable future. They include any or all of: those outside the distance range for ADSL (you must be roughly 3½ kilometres or less from the nearest exchange to receive services); those outside cable networks; those whose exchange is one of the three hundred BT has stated as incapable of holding any other telecommunications operator's equipment. What can be done for such people? There are three medium-term possibilities: fixed wireless; two-way satellite IP; DIY. The first has working examples already: Atlantic, which currently operates fixed wireless services in Scotland, is hitting well above its weight, and there is also the less obviously active Tele2. There is a spectrum auction about to be held by the Radiocommunications Agency to allocate fixed wireless licences to many more telecommunications operators. These licences are regionally based: encouragingly, there are many new entrants to the United Kingdom telecommunications market in the auction participants. The second has always seemed promising but, at the moment, is a chimera. There are vague suggestions about the third, of which more later. At the moment there is no obligation on any telecommunications operator, or any combination of operators, to provide broadband telecommunications across the entire United Kingdom (in other words, no broadband Universal Service Obligation). We will be looking at whether there should be, as there is a current consultation on the existing narrowband USO still open, and whether it should be made easier to obtain telecommunications licences. On that last point, we are always impressed by the number of people we come across with phenomenal technical knowledge, not always used or recognised, who say themselves that they would like to have a go at implementing broadband services by a variety of methods used elsewhere such as local wireless and line-of-sight laser. Certainly, with no USO, there is much danger that everyone will concentrate services on high-income areas: community or voluntary schemes could plug the gaps. At the moment voluntary organisations are banned from holding telecommunications licences; even with-profit organisations, judging from the many horror stories we have heard, are quickly smothered by the thick treacle of the Department of Trade and Industry, the Radiocommunications Agency, OFTEL and BT. Note that such organisations would be, at least theoretically, in competition with BT. Clearly, reworking what a telecommunications licence is will be legally complex. However, not doing so runs the risk of not minding the gaps.