Consultation outcome

Northern North Yorkshire Public Review request for information

Updated 4 August 2023

New procurement to extend coverage of gigabit-capable broadband across the Northern North Yorkshire (Lot 31) region.

1. Introduction

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.

We wish to work collaboratively with industry to maximise efficiency, minimise market distortion and achieve our objectives within a tight time frame. To do this, we first identified the areas that were not commercially viable through the Open Market Review (OMR) and Public Review (PR) stages. This allowed us to understand from suppliers if there were any current or planned investment over the next three years in broadband infrastructure (Next Generation Access broadband, ultrafast and gigabit-capable) in the identified geography. For this Lot, the identified geography lay within the Northern North Yorkshire region.

The box below shows the order of processes, from OMR to procurement.

1. OMR

2. Public Review

3. Determine intervention areas for procurement

4. Procurement

Through these stages, BDUK classifies premises as eligible/ineligible for subsidy on the basis of their existing or planned qualifying broadband infrastructure. Details on the classification system of White, Grey, Black and Under Review and methodology can be found in section 3.2 BDUK Classifications and methodology for this PR.

Premises categorised as White by BDUK during OMRs and PRs (ie eligible for subsidy) are grouped into Intervention Areas (IAs). IAs list those premises that will be targeted for subsidy in any potential procurement to follow this PR. To be clear, not all eligible premises may have been targeted for subsidy. The finalised IA(s) will be issued to the market at the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage of procurement so that suppliers can bid for subsidy to support delivery to these IA(s).

Further information on the OMR/PR process and how we reach our conclusions can be found in the Subsidy Control Guidance document.

2. Outcome of the preceding Open Market Review

Preceding the current PR stage, BDUK conducted an National Rolling OMR (NR OMR) from 3 May to 14 June 2022 which encompassed Northern North Yorkshire (Lot 31). This NR OMR requested information from suppliers regarding current and planned broadband infrastructure within the next three years.

All meaningful responses to the NR OMR were considered and where necessary used to determine eligible premises. Suppliers who responded to the NR OMR were informed of the classifications applied to the existing and planned infrastructure relevant to their submission.

The key findings of the NR OMR are presented in the postcode-level map showing eligible premises identified through the NR OMR for Northern North Yorkshire (Lot 31), and a list of eligible postcodes can be found on our website.

3. Outcome of the Public Review

3.1 Background

The PR for Northern North Yorkshire (Lot 31) ran from 4 October to 4 November 2022. During the PR, BDUK invited stakeholders (including broadband infrastructure operators, internet service providers, the public, and businesses) to provide feedback regarding which areas were made up of eligible premises.

The PR stage aimed to validate the outcome of the preceding NR OMR to ensure that it correctly represented the information provided by suppliers over the course of the NR OMR in respect of Northern North Yorkshire.

Suppliers who missed contributing to the preceding NR OMR, had no definitive plans and/or evidence base on which to substantiate claims at that earlier stage, or had subsequently updated their plans had a final opportunity to notify BDUK before final determinations were made on premises eligibility. All meaningful responses were carefully considered and where necessary utilised to determine eligible premises. BDUK also sought feedback from North Yorkshire County Council via NYNET. The finalised postcode-level map showing eligible premises is shown in Annex A of this PR Closure Notice. See postcode-level map.

A finalised list of postcodes showing White, Grey, Black and Under Review PR outcome has been published. A list of eligible (White / Under Review) premises is also available to suppliers upon request.

3.2 BDUK Classifications and methodology for this PR

During the PR, BDUK categorised premises as gigabit White, Grey, Black or Under Review.

Subsidy control classifications are set out below:

• White - indicates premises with no gigabit network infrastructure and none is likely to be developed within 3 years^{[footnote 1]}
• Grey - indicates premises where a single qualifying gigabit infrastructure from a single supplier is available, or is to be deployed within the coming 3 years^{[footnote 1]}
• Black - indicates premises with two or more qualifying gigabit infrastructures from different suppliers being available, or will be deployed within the coming 3 years^{[footnote 1]}
• Under Review - indicates premises where suppliers have reported current or planned commercial broadband coverage, but where claimed current gigabit coverage has not been verified, or, in respect of planned build, where evaluators are confident that gigabit infrastructure will be delivered, but some risks to delivery remain, or there are some gaps in evidence

BDUK will only provide subsidy to target premises that have been designated as White. Premises which have been designated as Under Review may be included within the Deferred Scope of a procurement. Where this is the case, a further review will be undertaken to confirm whether they are Grey or White before they are released for build.

In accordance with the OMR and PR processes, supplier data submitted during the NR OMR and PR has been mapped using a methodology that protects commercially sensitive supplier data. To reflect this sensitivity, we will only release White and Under Review Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs).

3.3 Summary of PR findings - premises eligibility

For presentational purposes only, postcode-level mapping has been used to present the map showing eligible premises. (NB we will only subsidise build to premises which have been designated as White - postcodes are not used to determine IAs for subsidy).

For this purpose, postcodes have been classified as follows:

1. A postcode is White if any White premises are present.
2. A postcode is Under Review if any Under Review premises are present.
3. A postcode is Black if all premises in the postcode are classified Black.
4. A postcode is Grey if all premises are Grey, or a mixture of Grey and Black.

A postcode-level map summarising these premises’ classifications is provided in Annex A. Suppliers - please note that this map does not show which UPRNs have been determined as White and Under Review.

The outcome of the PR is summarised in terms of White, Grey, Black and Under Review postcodes and premises below:

Postcode Classification	Number of Postcodes	Number of Gigabit Black Premises	Number of Gigabit Grey Premises	Number of Gigabit Under Review Premises	Number of Gigabit White Premises
White	8,684	1,812	15,136	40,099	60,012
Under Review	6,522	5,545	11,376	83,443	0
Grey	2,844	7,069	32,469	0	0
Black	825	16,980	0	0	0
Total	18,875	31,406	58,981	123,542	60,012

3.4 Forthcoming procurement

Details of the procurement will follow once Pre-Procurement Market Engagement (PPME) has taken place, with this Closure Notice being reuploaded onto GOV.UK. It is intended that once PPME has been completed and prior to the release of the ITT for this Lot, BDUK will publish the final target IA(s) for this procurement.

Timescales

The following table summarises the indicative timescales for the procurement.

Activity	Date
Procurement start date (SQ Launch)	July to September 2023
Estimated contract award date	April to June 2024

See Project Gigabit procurement timelines for more information.

4. Conclusion

A key output for the NR OMR/PR for Northern North Yorkshire (Lot 31) is the map showing premises that are eligible for subsidy.

From this map, BDUK is to develop IAs to be proposed to the market during the PPME phase. Annex A sets out this map at postcode level.

This identifies the areas where premises are eligible for subsidy. A full list of White and Under Review UPRNs is available on request to suppliers via ukgigabit@BDUK.Zendesk.com.

5. Annex A – Map indicating locations of eligible premises

The postcode level map below indicates areas where those premises eligible for subsidy are located ie White areas. These eligible premises may be included within the IA(s).

Black, Grey and Blue (Under Review) areas indicate where those premises ineligible for subsidy are located.

Northern North Yorkshire (Lot 31) Postcode level map (showing subsidy control classifications at a postcode level)

6. Annex B – Map of Proposed Intervention Area(s)

A map(s) of the IA(s) will follow once the PPME exercise has concluded.

1. There may be occasions where credible plans extend beyond a 3-year period, in that case, these may be taken into account. ↩ ↩² ↩³