"The slowing down of the full rollout of gigabit capable broadband will impact productivity and cost tens of thousands of jobs,” said Matthew Howett, the founder of Assembly Research.
“If the infrastructure is not there to make the UK an attractive place set up shop then we miss out. That's really what we don't get back. That's gone for good.”
Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly Research, said: “The original target for 2025 was always an ambitious one, but crucially one that industry felt it could deliver with the right enabling regulatory environment.”
“While progress was made with that, a number of barriers still remain. To depart from the original target with four years still left to run suggests perhaps that mountains can’t be moved after all, and the remaining barriers are permanent ones.”
Another observer - Matthew Howett, founder of research firm Assembly - added: "The original target for 2025 was always an ambitious one, but crucially one that industry felt it could deliver with the right enabling regulatory environment.
"While progress was made with that, a number of barriers still remain. To depart from the original target with four years still left to run suggests perhaps that mountains can't be moved after all."
"We know these are the hardest to reach and most expensive households to connect, where there are real barriers and real costs to deploying broadband, and where further government subsidy may be needed," said Matthew Howett, founder of research firm Assembly.
"Sometimes eye-watering quotes might arise because of estimates made without full engineering surveys having yet been completed. We're still at the early stages of the scheme so Ofcom's investigation may result in useful guidance when calculating quotes for future requests."
Imagination Technologies this week confirmed the appointment of telecoms veteran Simon Beresford-Wylie as its next chief executive, marking a new chapter for the British chipmaker.
Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Assembly Research, described Beresford-Wylie as a “well-liked” figure who was a “safe pair of hands”.
Telecoms analyst Mathew Howett, from Assembly Research, said: "There is very clearly a cost to the industry in terms of replacing Huawei earlier than operators might have done naturally.
"Government can't expect the industry to speed up deployment of networks if they pile on additional cost and slow down that rollout."
But he added: "The last time the government directed Ofcom with regards to spectrum - the liberalisation of bands for 4G and associated annual licence fees - legal challenges went on for a decade."
The ban on Huawei will delay the UK's full rollout of 5G by two to three years and the transition to an alternative will cost "up to £2 billion".
Tech expert Matthew Howett has estimated the delay's cost to the economy to be as much as £6.8 billion "in terms of lost benefit".
"It's about attracting new industries and new investment from manufacturers that want to take advantage of the 5G capability - all that gets lost if you slow us down," he said.
"It's not only a very expensive process for the operators, but it's going to be a time-consuming one as well because they need to get access to all those sites to make the changes," added Matthew Howett from Assembly, the consultancy that wrote Mobile UK's report.
One thing practically everyone agrees on is that the matter needs to be settled once and for at a time when so much else about the economy is uncertain.
"These procurement decisions can take 18 months to two years to finalise and it takes time to ramp up supply to meet the demand," said Mr Howett.
"So this isn't just a question of overnight deciding not to use Huawei - it would take many years to do it properly."
“This deal has been mooted for a while, and makes a lot of sense given the trend toward fixed and wireless network convergence,” said Matthew Howett, founder of London-based analyst firm Assembly Research.
A deal that brings together a fixed-line operator with a mobile provider is more likely to be approved by regulators than mobile-to-mobile consolidation, Howett said. “It doesn’t reduce competition in mobile, and preserves the four-player market that Ofcom and others have been committed to,” he said, referring to Britain’s telecommunications regulator.
Delays to the government’s plan to roll out superfast broadband across the country could see the UK lose almost £30bn in economic benefits, according to research published today.
Telecoms analysts warned a 12-month delay to the 2025 target would mean the UK misses out on a £9.7bn boost to the economy, while a two-year setback would cost £28.7bn.
“Access to reliable, future-proof digital infrastructure for all isn’t a luxury, but now accepted as a necessity whether it’s used for work, education or play,” said Matthew Howett, principal analyst and founder of Assembly Research.
“Increasing investment in key digital infrastructure will provide the bounce-back and economic recovery the UK will desperately need in the months and years ahead.”
