28.1 The Lead Member considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer, together with the exempt information contained in Item 7.
DECISIONS
28.2 The Lead Member RESOLVED: (1) to note the background and the scope of the Local Full Fibre Network proposal;
(2) to agree to the principle of replacing a leased public service network core infrastructure with a public sector owned fibre spine;
(3) to agree to the inclusion of the proposal to the capital programme; and
(4) to delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer to take all actions necessary to give effect to recommendations 2 and 3 above, subject to the Council’s bid to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) being approved and receipt of the DCMS funding.
Reasons
28.3 The LFFN Challenge Fund scheme provides an opportunity for East Sussex County Council and partners within the Link Consortium to move from a lease model to an ownership model for the core component of the Link Wide Area Network. It is anticipated that this transition from leasing to ownership would reduce operating costs and also allow for the delivery of a higher capacity and more scalable infrastructure. Alongside these benefits the ultra-fast infrastructure would also contribute to the development of the rural digital economy, enabling the private sector to leverage the infrastructure assets to offer a Full Fibre service beyond public sector, which in turn would offer a greater opportunity for small and medium sized digital enterprises to operate within the County.