DfE Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy – Regional Supplier Contract for Northern Ireland
Published
Value
Description
The UK Government has committed GBP5bn to enable hard-to-reach communities to access gigabit-capable broadband. This is being spent through a package of coordinated and mutually supportive interventions, collectively known as Project Gigabit. Project Gigabit, is a UK Government intervention to provide a subsidy to support the deployment of a gigabit speed broadband network to cover premises across Northern Ireland that would otherwise not be provided with access to gigabit broadband speeds, as these premises do not present a commercially viable investment for a private sector operator. Project Gigabit is a strategically important initiative for Northern Ireland’s society (people and businesses), is a key enabler for delivering the DfE Minister’s Economic Vision, and will help to maintain Northern Ireland’s connectivity and infrastructure at a level that is competitive with Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and is attractive to inward investment. As part of this DfE, along with Building Digital UK (BDUK), is developing a procurement approach to incentivise the telecoms market to invest in delivering gigabit capable wholesale infrastructure in areas not considered to be commercially viable for new infrastructure. This procurement approach will be a successor to the much-needed Superfast broadband programme and DfE’s broadband intervention, Project Stratum. The overarching aim of Project Gigabit is, simply stated, to provide universal, or near universal, gigabit-capable broadband coverage in Northern Ireland by increasing provision in areas which are currently poorly served and not capable of attracting wholly commercial investment. The project aim can be categorised into three key objectives: • Address market failure, whilst maintaining and promoting competition within the market. It is currently not commercially viable for telecoms service providers to extend gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure to many of the presently unserved premises in Northern Ireland. • Maximise gigabit-capable broadband coverage in a way that is balanced and supportive of rural areas and communities. • Choose procurement and delivery options which seek to maximise value for money (in terms of a balance of quality of technology/products, coverage, timescale and cost to Government), mitigate risk, incentivise performance and meet affordability criteria for Government and for end users. Lot 1: The UK Government has committed GBP5bn to enable hard-to-reach communities to access gigabit-capable broadband. This is being spent through a package of coordinated and mutually supportive interventions, collectively known as Project Gigabit. Project Gigabit, is a UK Government intervention to provide a subsidy to support the deployment of a gigabit speed broadband network to cover premises across Northern Ireland that would otherwise not be provided with access to gigabit broadband speeds, as these premises do not present a commercially viable investment for a private sector operator. Project Gigabit is a strategically important initiative for Northern Ireland’s society (people and businesses), is a key enabler for delivering the DfE Minister’s Economic Vision, and will help to maintain Northern Ireland’s connectivity and infrastructure at a level that is competitive with Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and is attractive to inward investment. As part of this DfE, along with Building Digital UK (BDUK), is developing a procurement approach to incentivise the telecoms market to invest in delivering gigabit capable wholesale infrastructure in areas not considered to be commercially viable for new infrastructure. This procurement approach will be a successor to the much-needed Superfast broadband programme and DfE’s broadband intervention, Project Stratum. The overarching aim of Project Gigabit is, simply stated, to provide universal, or near universal, gigabit-capable broadband coverage in Northern Ireland by increasing provision in areas which are currently poorly served and not capable of attracting wholly commercial investment. The project aim can be categorised into three key objectives: • Address market failure, whilst maintaining and promoting competition within the market. It is currently not commercially viable for telecoms service providers to extend gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure to many of the presently unserved premises in Northern Ireland. • Maximise gigabit-capable broadband coverage in a way that is balanced and supportive of rural areas and communities. • Choose procurement and delivery options which seek to maximise value for money (in terms of a balance of quality of technology/products, coverage, timescale and cost to Government), mitigate risk, incentivise performance and meet affordability criteria for Government and for end users. Additional information: The Supplier should note that there may be future changes in the scale of the services required during the term of the Contract that could not be identified or foreseen at the time of this procurement exercise, but which are consistent with the overall nature of the Authority’s’ current and future operational requirements for a gigabit speed broadband network to cover premises across Northern Ireland as defined in the specification and associated documents/appendices. In such circumstances, the Authority may seek to agree a modification to the Contract to facilitate the provision of such services by the Supplier, with the Charges. for such services to be determined in accordance with Clause 48 by reference to and consistent with the pricing parameters and assumptions used by the Supplier in its Financial Model and by reference to the mechanisms and protections provided in the Conditions of Contract. It is envisaged that such modifications would be made without requiring a new procurement procedure in accordance with Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. An example of such changes could include future requirements to include premises identified through OMR / PR as “White” but the Authority has decided to defer build until later in the contract, and/or premises identified through OMR / PR as “Under Review”. Examples: • premises identified through OMR / PR as “White” which could be targeted. under a procurement but the contracting authority has decided to defer build until later in the contract for reasons which may include. the premises not being a priority for build within the Initial Scope; and/or • premises in areas where gigabit infrastructure may become. available through other means e.g. through commercial or voucher-funded build; and/or • premises identified through Open Market. Review / Public Review as “Under Review”. The Local Area Review process will be used to monitor developments in the Lot on an annual basis and if required further premises are added using contract change control subject to further funding being made available and that it represents VFM.
Timeline
Publish date
a month ago
Close date
9 days ago
Buyer information
Department for the Economy
- Email:
- strategicdelivery.cpd@finance-ni.gov.uk
Explore contracts and tenders relating to Department for the Economy
Go to buyer profileNotice topics
Source
"Find-a-Tender"To save this opportunity, sign up to Stotles for free.
Save in appTender tracking
Access a feed of government opportunities tailored to you, in one view. Receive email alerts and integrate with your CRM to stay up-to-date.
Proactive prospecting
Get ahead of competitors by reaching out to key decision-makers within buying organisations directly.
360° account briefings
Create in-depth briefings on buyer organisations based on their historical & upcoming procurement activity.
Collaboration tools
Streamline sales workflows with team collaboration and communication features, and integrate with your favourite sales tools.
Explore similar tenders and contracts
Browse open tenders, recent contract awards and upcoming contract expiries that match similar CPV codes.
- Openclosing
Drumcog Maintenance Framework 2025
Drumcog c/o Pineview Housing AssociationPublished a day ago
- Openclosing
Drumcog Maintenance Framework 2025
Drumcog c/o Pineview Housing AssociationPublished a day ago
- Unknown
Digital Customer Experience Strategy Partner.
The University of Manchester200,000 GBPPublished 4 days ago
- Openclosing
TRN-23-001 EA Home to School Bus CCTV Maintenance, Repair, Supply and Installation
Education Authority Northern Ireland930,000 GBPPublished 5 days ago
- Openclosing
TRN-23-001 EA Home to School Bus CCTV Maintenance, Repair, Supply and Installation
Education Authority Northern Ireland930,000 GBPPublished 5 days ago
- Openclosing
Digital Customer Experience Strategy Partner
The University of Manchester200,000 GBPPublished 6 days ago
- Openclosing
Digital Customer Experience Strategy Partner.
The University of Manchester200,000 GBPPublished 6 days ago
Explore other contracts published by Department for the Economy
Explore more open tenders, recent contract awards and upcoming contract expiries published by Department for the Economy.
- Closed
DFE – The Provision of Expert Mine Engineering Advice
Department for the Economy170,000 GBPPublished 2 months ago
- Closed
DfE - NI electricity interconnection and energy storage modelling and assessment
Department for the Economy140,000 GBPPublished 3 months ago
- Closed
DfE - Provision of Insolvency Services
Department for the Economy300,000 GBPPublished 3 months ago
- Closed
DfE - SWC - Supply and Delivery of an Agricultural Tractor (ID 5443331)
Department for the Economy100,000 GBPPublished 3 months ago
- Closed
DfE - Harland and Wolff - Accounting and Administration Support
Department for the Economy700,000 GBPPublished 7 months ago
- Unknown
ID 5354850 - DFE - DIGITAL CAREERS TOOLS AND SUPPORT FOR CLIENTS WITH AUTISM PME
Department for the EconomyPublished 8 months ago
- Closed
DoF CPD – Provision of AutoDesk Licence Subscriptions, Support and Training 2024-27
Department of Finance297,975 GBPPublished a year ago
- Closed
ID 5027919 DfE - Energy Group - Smart Metering High Level Implementation Plan
Department for the Economy125,000 GBPPublished a year ago
Explore more suppliers to Department for the Economy
Sign upExplore top buyers for public sector contracts
Discover open tenders, contract awards and upcoming contract expiries of thousands of public sector buyers below. Gain insights into their procurement activity, historical purchasing trends and more.
Explore top sources for public sector contracts
Stotles aggregates public sector contract data from every major procurement data source. We ingest this data and surface the most relevant insights for our users. Explore our list of public sector procurement data sources below.