Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator (DCIA)
Information about the DCIA programme, with guidance on how to participate in the Pilot competition
Please note the application window has now closed. No more entries will be considered.
The accelerated rollout of advanced wireless networks, including 5G, will bring benefits to the UK economy and communities across the country. There are a number of challenges in the deployment of wireless networks, and this project specifically explores those involved in using publicly owned infrastructure assets to support the roll out of advanced wireless connectivity.
As the next major milestone in the DCIA project DCMS will allocate up to £4 million of funding to pilots which support the implementation of digital asset management solutions to open up public assets for the rollout of wireless communication networks.
This page provides the competition background, information on eligibility and how to participate. Potential participants can also register for the competition briefing event on Wednesday 15th of September.
Read further background information and updates for the DCIA project (this includes information on the four project workstreams):
- Digital Asset Management
- PFI Contracts
- Standard Contracts
- Standards for Smart Infrastructure
Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator (DCIA) Pilot overview
The Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator (DCIA) Pilot is an open competition, run by DCMS from HM Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund and supported by DfT. DCIA will allocate up to £4 million of funding to pilots which support the implementation of digital asset management solutions for mapping and brokerage of publicly owned assets for use in the rollout of wireless communication networks.
Background
The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) highlighted the government’s commitment to high quality mobile connectivity where people live, work and travel. Advanced wireless networks (including 5G) are likely to entail greater deployment of digital infrastructure, including on publicly available assets (such as land, buildings and street furniture) to provide extra capacity in specific locations.
The Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator (DCIA) will help accelerate both investment in and the deployment of advanced wireless networks. The pilot competition supports this aim by helping to create efficiencies for local authorities and network providers using publicly available assets to support digital infrastructure.
Market engagement with local authorities has shown that both cost and timescales are both significant barriers in using publicly owned assets for digital infrastructure. To address this, DCMS is launching this competition with the aim of making the transactions between public sector location asset owners and telecommunications companies as frictionless as possible, lowering costs of site acquisition and accelerating the rollout of digital connectivity across participating regions.
The regions and their local authorities funded through this competition will work with industry partners to pilot a digital asset management platform to build evidence on how the digital mapping and brokerage of assets can benefit mobile network operators and their network delivery partners, users of mobile services (business and consumer) and the public sector, who are the primary providers of assets for hosting network equipment. A draft technical design specification outlines the minimum requirements for a digital asset management platform and has been co-developed with mobile telecommunication infrastructure providers (including all four major Mobile Network Operators), local authorities, government partners, and potential solution providers. Successful bidders are expected to source digital asset management platforms in line with functionality as described in the specification.
Objectives of the Pilot competition
- Local or regional authority led project teams will work with digital asset management platform providers and wireless infrastructure providers to test the process required to digitise elements of the site acquisition process.
- Pilots will build evidence of whether the use of a digital asset management platform enables more efficient industry access to public sector assets and whether it encourages deployment of infrastructure in the region.
- The potential commercial models and economic viability of running a digital asset management platform from a local or regional authority will be tested, including a clear understanding of business and operational models that recognise constraints in affordability for both public sector asset owners and telecommunication infrastructure providers.
- Increase the development of regional authority and local authority expertise and reach an understanding of what resource is required to expedite telecommunications infrastructure deployment. This should include an assessment of the resources required internally to support the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure through this pilot including asset data discovery and management, whether provided in-house or in-sourced from a rich ecosystem of professional service providers (preferably from but not exclusive to local SMEs).
- Demonstrate the application of a digital asset management mapping platform across a diverse range of geographies (urban, suburban, rural) and socio-economic profiles (industrial, agricultural, leisure, business or residential etc).
- Demonstrate that the platform has been tested with multiple asset types (e.g. local authority owned land, buildings and streetlights).
Competition timeline and events
| Milestones | Date |
|---|---|
| Competition launch announcement | 9th September 2021 |
| Deadline for questions | 5th November 2021 |
| Applications deadline | 18th November 2021 |
| Assessment of bids | Late November 2021 |
| Successful applicant notified | Mid to late January 2022 |
| Pilots start | January 2022 |
| Pilots end | December 2022 (subject to individual/specific circumstances we will accept extending the end date of some pilots to March 2023.) |
Who can apply?
This is an open competition, requiring submission from regional or local authorities, with DCMS funding available for activity taking place in the UK. Please refer to the Application Guidance document below, for a definition of eligible bodies that can apply.
How to apply
Please read the Application Guidance, complete the Application Form and the Finance Forms provided below and submit your documents to the following email address dcia-info@dcms.gov.uk by midday 18th November. You will receive an email acknowledgement of your registration.
Required documents
- which contains the form used by applicants to apply for the DCIA competition
- which contains a spreadsheet that allows applicants for the DCIA competition to estimate their project costs
- which contains a signatory agreement for applicants wishing to participate in the DCIA pilot
Supporting documents
- which contains full details of the competition and guidance on the necessary eligibility and application criteria.
- which demonstrates the process and criteria to access funding for individual activities
- which contains a detailed description of the technical aspects of the proposed digital platform
- which contains general information and the related DCMS processes, including: funding rules guidance, information on the different categories of funding and the rules around our subsidy control framework
- which contains detailed information on which project costs are eligible for funding.
- which contains frequently asked questions
Contact us
If you have any questions or would like more clarification, please contact us on dcia-info@dcms.gov.uk. Your question/s and respective answer/s will be aggregated, anonymised and added to a public Q&A document.
Updates to this page
Last updated 3 December 2021 + show all updates
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The timeline for notifying successful applicants has been extended due to the number of applications received. It was December 2021 and is now mid to late January 2022.
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Updated Q&A log.
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Expanded Q&A document.
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Updated Draft Funding Agreement doc.
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First published.