Consultation outcome

Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14) Public Review Closure Notice

Updated 31 May 2023

New procurement to extend coverage of gigabit-capable broadband across the Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14) regions.

Please note as of May 2023, the name of Lot 14 has formally changed from ‘Dorset’ to ‘Dorset and South Somerset’.

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 Dorset and South Somerset regions.

The flowchart below shows the order of stages, 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 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 this IA.

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 Dorset and South Somerset. 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 Dorset, and a list of eligible postcodes can be found on our website.

3. Outcome of the Public Review

3.1 Background

The PR for Dorset (Lot 14) 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.

Furthermore, BDUK carried out market engagement to seek feedback from suppliers about the design of the IA and Lot design, the procurement type (A - local supplier, B - regional supplier or C - cross-regional supplier) and also the capacity of the market to bid for a potential procurement.

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 Dorset.

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 Dorset County Council. 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.

The proposed IA shown in Annex B has been submitted to BDUK’s National Competence Centre and obtained approval to proceed. The finalised IA will be available to bidders at the forthcoming ITT stage.

Previous OMR/PR Activity in Dorset

Please note that prior to the May 2022 NR OMR and PR described above, an OMR for Dorset (Lot 14) was previously initiated in March 2021 and a subsequent PR carried out from June to August 2021. Please see the initial Dorset (Lot 14) PR Closure Notice published in July 2022 for further details regarding the outcome, including details of the IA referred to as North Dorset (Lot 14.01) a type A local supplier contract.

Please note, that the Section 3.3 Summary of PR findings - premises eligibility outcome data included in this PR Closure Notice will differ from the outcome of the initial Dorset (Lot 14) PR Closure Notice published in July 2022 due to the point in time that the data was captured, or due to different suppliers providing responses.

Following a transparent, fair and robust procurement process, BDUK awarded a £6 million contract to provide over 7,000 premises in North Dorset (Lot 14.01) with access to gigabit-capable broadband. Further details on this can be found here.

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 changes made to the proposed Lot Boundary Area. These changes can be seen in the Dorset (Lot 14) PR outcomes provided below, and shown in Annex A. This is consistent with the revised Lot Boundary Area shown in this document in Annex B which includes the IA referred to as Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14.02) a type B regional supplier contract.

Please note as of May 2023, the name of Lot 14 has formally changed from ‘Dorset’ to ‘Dorset and South Somerset’.

To be clear, the changes made during the PR to the Lot Boundary Area are as follows:

Following the PRs undertaken for Devon and Somerset (Lot 6), Dorset (Lot 14) and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Lot 32) in November 2022, BDUK went out to the market to share a view of Devon and Somerset (Lot 6), Dorset (Lot 14) and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Lot 32) IAs in January 2023.

As part of the market engagement for tenders within the Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy Scheme, BDUK engaged suppliers in a Soft Market Testing (SMT) exercise for all of these South West Lots simultaneously to obtain market feedback on Devon and Somerset (Lot 6), Dorset (Lot 14) and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (Lot 32).

During the SMT exercise, BDUK received positive indications of interest in a combined type B regional supplier contract which spanned across both the Dorset (Lot 14) and Devon and Somerset (Lot 6) areas.

During the months from February to April 2023, BDUK proceeded to conduct further market engagement, with a PPME exercise completed consulting on a combined type B regional supplier contract which included Dorset and South Somerset referred to as (Lot 14.02).

As a result of the findings from this exercise, BDUK has decided to progress with a single type B regional supplier contract which will cover premises located in both Dorset and South Somerset.

The PR for Devon and Somerset (Lot 6) was carried out in parallel with this PR for Dorset (Lot 14) and initial details on the outcome of this exercise can be found in the Devon and Somerset (Lot 6) PR Closure Notice published February 2023.

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/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 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	4,039	6,269	27,013	31,264	19,681
Under Review	8,825	12,133	63,475	89,199	0
Grey	7,869	19,700	117,507	0	0
Black	1,536	25,929	0	0	0
Total	22,269	64,031	207,995	120,463	19,681

3.4 Forthcoming procurement

During the PR stage for Dorset (Lot 14), BDUK sought responses from the market and other stakeholders to validate the Annex A Subsidy Control map (showing Gigabit White, Grey, Black and Under Review determinations).

BDUK also carried out market engagement to seek feedback from suppliers about the design of the proposed IA and Lot, the procurement type (A - local supplier, B - regional supplier or C - cross-regional supplier) and also the capacity of the market to bid for a potential procurement.

The total public funding investment has been based on the final number of premises requiring subsidy. BDUK will confirm a budget drawn from public funding for this area within the forthcoming tender documentation. Details of any restrictions on the use of public subsidy will be explained within the tender documentation.

Indicative funding allocated to this Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14.02) procurement is as follows:

Type  B - Total of 22,604 UPRNs approximately £43,150,696 split as follows:

• Initial Scope: 7,577 UPRNs approximately £18,823,193

• Deferred Scope: 15,027 UPRNs approximately £24,327,503

The procurement type selected Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14.02) following engagement with the market and other stakeholders, is anticipated to be a single type B regional supplier contract. A premises-level map detailing the proposed IA can be found in  Annex B.

Following previous market engagement and a previous OMR initiated in March 2021 and a subsequent PR carried out from June to August 2021, a type A local supplier contract referred to as North Dorset (Lot 14.01) is currently already in delivery.

Following a transparent, fair and robust procurement process, BDUK awarded a £6 million contract to provide over 7,000 premises in North Dorset (Lot 14.01) with access to gigabit-capable broadband. Further details on this can be found here. Please also see the initial Dorset (Lot 14) PR Closure Notice published in July 2022 for additional information.

The regional supplier contract includes two categories of intervention: Initial Scope, where the regional supplier should build as quickly as possible; and Deferred Scope where we wait and see whether commercial plans or voucher projects translate to delivery, but could then build if not.

For premises that are included in the Deferred Scope of contract, we will seek a price from the regional supplier, but will not authorise build unless and until they are re-classified as White. We will always either descope Under Review premises or defer build to them and we will always descope Grey or Black premises.

Dorset and South Somerset’s (Lot 14.02) forthcoming procurement will be carried out in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR2015). BDUK procurement approaches are designed to address the scale of the individual procurements. Dorset and South Somerset’s (Lot 14.02) procurement will be conducted in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner.

The Authority, BDUK, reserves the right to amend or withdraw the procedure for the competitive sourcing process at any time.  Any amendments will be done in line with the Procurement Regulations.

Suppliers acknowledge and accept that by issuing this document (PR Closure Notice) BDUK shall not be bound to progress or conclude any related procurement activity.

Under no circumstances shall the Authority incur any liability in respect of the information contained in this Closure Notice or any supporting documentation.

Timescales

The following table summarises the indicative timescales for the procurement:

Activity	Date
Procurement start date (SQ Launch)	May 2023
Estimated contract award date	January to March 2024

See Project Gigabit procurement timelines for more information.

3.5 Summary of PR findings

• There are 19,681 White premises (out of 412,170) where the market does not intend to build, indicating there is a strong commitment from active suppliers in Dorset to reach a large proportion of premises in the county

• As such, in order to develop a viable procurement that could be released to the market, BDUK ensured all supplier feedback provided during the SMT and PPME exercises was considered during the IA design process, resulting in the design of a procurement which will cover premises located in both Dorset and South Somerset

• This IA was designed to address areas outside of where we expect the commercial sector to build to, prioritising footprints where there is an appetite for BDUK to go further, faster

• We contacted all known national and local suppliers to ask them to respond to the NR OMR and PR. This included working closely with Dorset and Somerset County Councils to ensure active and prospective suppliers were aware of the NR OMR and PR and could feed in their responses

4. Conclusion

A key output for the OMR/PR for Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14) is the map showing premises that are eligible for subsidy.

From this map, BDUK developed the IA which was  proposed to the market during the PPME phase.  Annex B sets out the draft IA map at UPRN 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].

Suppliers and other interested stakeholders (including businesses) wishing to submit final comments as a result of the changes made to the Lot Boundaries detailed in this update as described in this PR Closure Notice above are encouraged to send in feedback via [email protected] with the subject ‘’Lot 14.02 - PR Closure Notice Update”.

Comments should be received no later than 31 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. These eligible premises may be included within the IA.

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

Dorset (Lot 14) Postcode level map (showing subsidy control classifications at a postcode level)

As noted above, the Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14.02) procurement includes premises from Devon & Somerset (Lot 6) as well as Dorset and South Somerset (Lot 14).

For details on the outcome of the Devon & Somerset (Lot 6), please see this PR Closure Notice.

6. Annex B – Map of Proposed Intervention Area

The map below highlights the IA that was approved following completion of the PPME exercise.

Please see section 3 above for information on BDUK’s findings, contextualising how eligible premises were included in the proposed IA.

The above premises-level map indicates eligible premises that form the proposed type B procurement.

Those premises which are highlighted in orange (7,577 premises) are referred to as the ‘Initial Scope’ premises that will be targeted for subsidy.

Those premises which are highlighted in blue (15,027 premises) are referred to as the ‘Deferred Scope’ premises, which will not be targeted for subsidy unless they have been determined to be eligible (White) as part of BDUK’s monitoring process.

This map is accompanied by a list of UPRNs that fall within the IA, clearly demarcating which premises are within the ‘Initial’ or ‘Deferred’ Scope which suppliers can request via Atamis. If you are unable to access Atamis, please contact the Supplier Mailbox [email protected].

As noted above, a previous OMR initiated in March 2021 and a subsequent PR carried out from June to August 2021, have already been undertaken for Dorset.

Details of the resulting type A local supplier contract IA designed from those exercises referred to as North Dorset (14.01) can be found in the initial Dorset (Lot 14) PR Closure Notice published in July 2022.

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