21285 - SCTE Broadband Dec2021 COMPLETE v1

40 Vol. 43 No. 4 - November 2021 Issue are seeing. So, it is important to make efficient use of the highly skilled people and support them with the right tools and use automation and strategic partners when necessary. Take our customer Proximus as an example. They needed a network design for 4.2 million homes across Belgium. It took their design team of four people, a whole year to create a complete fibre network design for one million homes. With their ambitions to accelerate the rollout, they have brought in Comsof partner Yungo, to help them produce more quality network designs in a short amount of time. The speed in which they produced a design is astonishing, but on top of this, they also kept their project within the bounds of their forecasted budget. Even if there is a 100% successful FTTH rollout across all urban and rural areas, that still only addresses half of the problem when it comes to the digital divide. We must also be prepared to look at the affordability of fibre and for the supply of connecting devices for all households and implement inclusive policies. In Belgium, and I am sure other countries, we have already seen these issues arise with the first round of lockdowns for school children. The children were offered home schooling via their devices, but it soon emerged that many children didn’t have access to a laptop or a connected device, so cities across Belgium began giving laptops to these children. If full civil participation is the goal, then each household not only needs fibre, but they also need to have access to affordable connections and devices that allow them access to the internet. While the future is certainly bright for further rural fibre rollouts, there are still key challenges that need to be addressed, both for industry players and governing bodies. We must ensure that our labour force is trained and supported by every means possible, so that high quality network designs are created, as the demand continues to rise. Governing bodies also must ensure that the promotion and investment into the infrastructure is implemented, and in particular they must take this opportunity to address the digital divide. from the industry