Summary
The government’s ambition is to deliver nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible. We recognise that there is a need for government intervention in the parts of the country that are not commercially viable. This is why the government has committed £5 billion for the hardest to reach parts of the country, ensuring that all areas of the UK can benefit. This will be spent through a package of coordinated and mutually supportive interventions, collectively known as Project Gigabit.
Documents
Consultation description
Department for the Economy (DfE) in Northern Ireland, along with Building Digital UK (BDUK), is developing a procurement approach for funding contracts to suppliers delivering gigabit-capable wholesale infrastructure. This procurement approach will be a successor to the highly successful Superfast broadband programme and Project Stratum. As a result of significant commercial investment and vital public intervention in Northern Ireland, an increasing number of homes and businesses now have access to improved broadband services, with gigabit-capable accessibility now the highest in the UK. As such, it may be the case that a future procurement under Project Gigabit may be smaller in scale to ongoing deployment under Project Stratum. However, the scale and scope of a target intervention area will only be known as a result of extensive analysis of data following an Open Market Review and a subsequent Public Review.
Support, guidance or clarification
If you require any additional support, guidance or clarification with any of this, please get in touch with us at gigabitNI@economy-ni.gov.uk.
Ways to respond
Consultation closed — responses are no longer being accepted.