Consultation outcome

Birmingham and the Black Country (Lot 35) Public Review Closure Notice

Updated 8 September 2023

New procurement to extend coverage of gigabit-capable broadband across the Birmingham and the Black Country (Lot 35) regions.

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 Birmingham and the Black Country regions.

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.

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 a National Rolling OMR (NR OMR) from 3 May to 14 June 2022 which encompassed Birmingham and the Black Country (Lot 35). 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 Birmingham and the Black Country (Lot 35), and a list of eligible postcodes can be found on our website.

3. Outcome of the Public Review

3.1 Background

The PR for Birmingham and the Black Country (Lot 35) 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 May 2022 NR OMR to ensure that it correctly represented the information provided by suppliers over the course of the May 2022 NR OMR in respect of Birmingham and the Black Country.

Suppliers who missed contributing to the preceding May 2022 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 both Birmingham City Council and Black Country Consortium (LEP). 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.

Changes to the Lot Area

Please note, Lot areas are not fully aligned to Local Authority Boundaries. Specific Lot Boundaries (and IAs) may flex during the OMR, PR and Pre-Procurement Market Engagement (PPME) processes to enable an optimum procurement to be put to the market.

Since the PR closed on 4 November 2022 there have been no amendments to the proposed Lot Boundary Area. The PR outcomes provided below, and shown in Annex A are consistent with the proposed Lot Boundary Area displayed at the start of the PR.

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	12,855	20,049	141,115	24,665	102,035
Under Review	8,507	31,408	90,510	64,393	0
Grey	20,478	79,967	384,242	0	0
Black	7,026	162,422	0	0	0
Total	48,866	293,846	615,867	89,058	102,035

4. Conclusion

A key output for the NR OMR/PR for Birmingham and the Black Country (Lot 35) is the map showing premises that are eligible for subsidy. 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 [email protected].

Please note as of September 2023, our analysis of the major English metropolitan areas has provided us with a clear understanding of the significant commercial activity present in large urban conurbations.

It is likely that some small pockets of poor urban digital connectivity will remain unserved by the commercial market without government intervention. In order to accurately ascertain how to best serve these premises, we have chosen to pause our procurement timeline and engage the market, councils and other local stakeholders on the most suitable design and scale of any future intervention.

We will continue to monitor these English metropolitan areas closely through the NR OMR process that is undertaken by BDUK. As of January 2022, BDUK has been asking suppliers delivering gigabit-capable infrastructure to submit national data returns on a 4-monthly basis (January, May and September) to provide detailed build plans at premises level. The purpose of the NR OMR is to ensure that BDUK has the most up to date information about suppliers’ existing and planned commercial build with supplier submissions being used to inform eligibility across Project Gigabit.

Therefore, interested stakeholders (including broadband infrastructure operators, internet service providers, the public and businesses) are encouraged to regularly review the NR OMR outputs that BDUK publishes, so as to ensure they’re kept up to date on the latest statuses of postcodes within these English metropolitan areas.

Further information on the most recent NR OMR outputs can be found within the January 2023 NR OMR Closure Notice published 14 June 2023.

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.

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

Birmingham and the Black Country (Lot 35) Postcode level map (showing subsidy control classifications at a postcode level)

6. Annex B – Map of Proposed Intervention Area

Please refer to the Conclusion section above.

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