Project Gigabit - Birmingham and the Black Country (Lot 35) Public Review

Following the National Rolling Open Market Review which was open from 3 May 2022 and closed on 14 June 2022, Building Digital UK (BDUK) is seeking views from the public and other stakeholders about existing gigabit-capable network and future commercial build plans in the area of Birmingham and the Black Country.

Background

The government’s ambition is to deliver nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible. The market is making great progress in delivering this ambition but there is a need for government intervention in the parts of the country that are not commercially viable. This is why the Budget in 2020 committed £5 billion for the hardest to reach parts of the country, ensuring that all areas of the UK can benefit equally.

The £5 billion will be spent through a package of co-ordinated and mutually supportive interventions, collectively known as the Project Gigabit Programme. As part of this, BDUK is developing a procurement approach for funding contracts to suppliers delivering gigabit-capable wholesale infrastructure.

Gigabit-capable broadband is important for all communities providing faster, more reliable connectivity for homes and businesses everywhere.

Information required

BDUK requests information and supporting evidence about gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure within the Birmingham and the Black Country Intervention Area. We wish to hear from all relevant stakeholders - including the public, businesses, internet service providers and broadband infrastructure operators - in relation to the target intervention area found in the below detailed Request For Information (RFI) document.

For the avoidance of doubt, please only respond to this public review if you have a meaningful contribution to make.

Please tell us about your:

• broadband infrastructure - existing

• plans for developing / improving broadband infrastructure

• suppliers should include in their response any existing infrastructure or planned infrastructure - please include in your submission, any existing or planned infrastructure you have gained with assistance from government subsidy; for example, Vouchers, Superfast (NBS 2012 or NBS 2016) and Hubs

• interest in bidding for projects and capability to scale

A description of the response format can be found in the Public Review RFI document.

Public Review description

BDUK request information and supporting evidence from suppliers in relation to the presence of gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure within the project area. We wish to hear from all relevant stakeholders - including the public, businesses, internet service providers and broadband infrastructure operators - particularly in relation to the proposed mapped eligible areas.

How to respond:

For all submissions, BDUK would be grateful if you could confirm the following:

• your organisation’s name (if applicable)

• your organisation’s, or residential address (if applicable)

• your name

• position

• contact telephone number

• email address

Members of the public and other respondents should follow the above format and email their submissions to ukgigabit@bduk.zendesk.com.

If you are a broadband infrastructure operator please contact us at ukgigabit@bduk.zendesk.com to access our secure file transfer portal.

Further information

Read more about BDUK.