Network operator Openreach (BT) has today confirmed that their 1.8Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network has now “almost” covered 14 million premises, which comes after they ramped-up build to deploy 1 million premises per quarter. The operator also firmed up on their 30m premises ambition for 2030.

Speaking in Manchester for the Connected North event this morning, Openreach’s Director of Fibre Build, Georgia Grimes, said: “We’ve built full fibre broadband to almost 14 million premises and are now building at a rate of 1m a quarter and will go on to reach 30m by 2030. We’re building on time, in budget, safely and sustainably.”

The clear statement about going “on to reach 30m by 2030” appears to represent a more concrete commitment of intent than we’ve seen before from Openreach. The 2030 date was last year spoken about more aspirationally, often alongside a more ambiguous range of “between 25-30m” (here), but it increasingly seems like they’re now solidifying it as a solid target.

At the same time Openreach’s Business Development Manager, Justine Neale, separately said the operator’s FTTP take-up “will rise to 50%” (up from 34% today or over 4.5m customers) and that’s a bit more specific than the range of 40-55% that was similarly expressed last year for the same 2030 date. But Justine did caveat that they still needed more support from the government to help foster flexi-permits and easier wayleaves for MDU build (here).

Openreach currently expects to add a total of 3.5 million extra premises to their UK FTTP coverage across the 2024 financial year, which they predict will rise to 4 million in FY25. In other words, they should maintain a rate of build around the 1m premises per quarter mark for the next couple of years, during which build costs are expected to stay within their £250 to £350 model (here).

However, Openreach has previously said that their capital expenditure will reduce by at least £1bn per annum after December 2026, while at the same time their “build pace will reduce to c.1m premises passed per annum” in this same period (here). This is to be expected, as national roll-outs naturally have a ramp-up (early phases of build) and ramp-down (late phases) period.

News 

The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has signed a deal with telco stc, through which PIF will acquire 51% of Telecommunication Towers Company Limited (TAWAL) from stc

PIF also owns an 80% stake in Golden Lattice Investment Company (GLIC). Following the deal signing, PIF and stc group are set to merge both TAWAL and GLIC into a new entity. This company will become one of world’s the largest company in the telecommunication infrastructure sector at an enterprise value of $5.85 billion, with 30,000 mobile tower sites and annual approximate revenues of $1.3 billion according to the press release 

The combined new entity will be owned 54% by PIF and 43.1% by stc Group, with GLIC minority shareholders owning the remaining shares. 

The deal will ensure the creation of a ‘critical national digital infrastructure asset’ that aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 – a government launched programme to increase “economic diversification, global engagement, and enhanced quality of life.” 

The government has recognised that the telecoms industry is essential to reaching these goals. “Fast, reliable and accessible connectivity is a key enabler of growth and a cornerstone for the society,” said Raid Ismail, Head of MENA Direct Investments at PIF. 

The transaction is pending standard regulatory approval, and is expected to be competed in the latter half of this year. 

“Combining TAWAL and GLIC is a stepping-stone to consolidating the Saudi tower market and driving further efficiencies and operational excellence to deliver superior experiences and value for customers,” continued Motaz Alangari, Group Chief Investment Officer of stc Group. 

This is not the first move towards consolidation in the region’s telecoms market. Last July, Qatar’s largest telecom company Ooredoo, Dubai’s TASC Towers and Kuwait-based Zain Group began talks to combine their mobile tower operations into a jointly owned independent company, which was finalised in December. The deal was valued at $2.2 billion, and will see 30,000 tower assets be combined over six countries, Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq and Jordan. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

Cabling solutions provider ACOME Group today caused a bit of confusion after they seemed to announce that network builder and ISP Fibrus, which is one of their UK partners, had extended their 2Gbps FTTP broadband network to cover 400,000 premises across England and Northern Ireland. But the actual figure is 354,000 (337k RFS).

According to the announcement: “The use of ACOME Group’s cabling solutions has helped Fibrus speed up its fibre installations and reach its target of 400,000 homes passed across rural and regional areas of Cumbria and Northern Ireland by March 2024“. The same release then somewhat contradicted this in the editors notes by saying Fibrus “has already passed more than 380,000 homes“, with 80,000 live customers.

In order to accelerate the speed of deployment, ACOME said Fibrus’ street cabinets were fitted with an optical distribution solution that was pre-cabled at ACOME’s manufacturing plant in Brittany. The ITOM-V3 optical distribution solution eliminated the need to splice at the cabinet, which meant the risk of project schedules changing and budget not being met were reduced.

The network operator has also begun trialling ACOME Group’s 60-fibre cable constructed with nanomodule technology, which is said to reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and carbon footprint of deployments.

Andrea Garcia, ACOME Group UK Director, said:

“We are delighted to help Fibrus deliver ultra-fast reliable connectivity to those residents and businesses in Cumbria and Northern Ireland. Our 60-fibre cabling [with a 12-fibre modularity] has saved installation times, provided technical innovation and delivered increased flexibility. As the cable is also [Openreach] PIA-approved, Fibrus has been able to use existing poles and ducts in the areas, with no need to dig or put up new ones.”

However, while Fibrus have been making good progress, the contradictory figures did seem a bit high given the expected slowdown in build from recent developments (here and here) and the fact that they only recently reported having passed 339,000 premises on 31st January 2024 (here) – falling to 321,000 for those deemed Ready for Service (RFS) by customers.

The operator’s co-founder and CEO, Dominic Kearns, was kind enough to clarify to ISPreview that both the 400k and 380k+ figures given by ACOME were incorrect. The actual figure for the end of March 2024 was 354,000 premises passed (337,000 RFS) and most of that comes from Northern Ireland (including the 74,000 so far delivered via Project Stratum, which is currently “on time and within budget”).

Press Release

22 April 2024: This Earth Day, BT is announcing a new partnership with the UK Business Climate Hub (UKBCH) that aims to help UK small & medium businesses (SMBs) halve CO2e emissions by 2030 and empower them to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It comes as research suggests UK SMBs would stop 280 million tonnes of CO2e emissions from reaching the atmosphere if they hit this near-term goal*.

There are 5.5 million SMBs in the UK, making up more than 99% of all businesses nationwide. Collectively they account for almost half (44%**) of non-household emissions, making their role in tackling the climate crisis critical to the UK’s chances of hitting net zero by 2050.

Nine in ten (90%) of SMEs would like to address climate change at their business, but find it challenging to get started and identify the right tools to mitigate their environmental impact.*** To help them map out a path to net zero, the UKBCH, a shared endeavour between industry and government, has welcomed BT as a key industry partner and member of its Advisory Board, and has developed ‘Seven Steps to Sustainability’ to empower SMBs to get started today.

The new partnership aims to bring together BT’s expertise in supporting more than one million small business customers with the UK Business Climate Hub’s free resources to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint and their energy bills. Businesses can take the first step today by checking out the available, free resources from the UKBCH on its website. They can also work towards the SME Climate Commitment, by making a pledge to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, achieve net zero emissions before 2050, and report progress on these goals annually.

Chris Sims, Managing Director, Small and Medium Business at BT, says: “BT set its first carbon reduction target more than 30 years ago, and we’ve had a strong track record of hitting our sustainability goals ever since. But we have size on our side – and from speaking to our small business customers we know that with limited resources, many of them struggle to find the time, the funding, or the guidance to help them prioritise sustainability. With the UK Business Climate Hub we are beginning our journey to reach more businesses with free tools and practical support to help them set the foundations for a greener future, and ultimately, reach Net Zero.”

Chris Taylor, Net Zero Programme Director at the Broadway Initiative – which manages the UK Business Climate Hub – adds: “We’re delighted to partner with BT and are energised about the impact we will make together. The UK Business Climate Hub works closely with the government and our industry partners to produce essential guides for SMBs across multiple sectors, with practical advice on how to reduce carbon emissions and save on energy bills. Whether it’s a tailored net zero plan for individual SMBs, free carbon footprint calculators or an online training course on cutting emissions, with our tools and support, SMBs can reduce both costs and emissions and transition to a greener economy – the ultimate win-win.”

Seven steps to Sustainability: Practical tips for all sectors

The UKBCH has charted a course for SMBs to build and achieve a greener future. The ‘Seven Steps to Sustainability’ break down key actions so that businesses can create an achievable plan. These include:

1.      Understand the basics: An overview of net zero and how to reduce your business’s carbon footprint and any legal requirements on reducing carbon emissions.

2.      Involve your team: Engage staff across the business to develop carbon reduction and energy saving initiatives. This could include an internal working group or hiring an external consultant.

3.      Make the SME Climate Commitment: Commit to halving business emissions by 2030, reach net zero by 2050, and report yearly on progress towards these goals.

4.      Make a plan: Measure current emissions from fuel consumption and electricity use. Taking stock of current business activities that contribute to overall carbon emissions will enable businesses to identify key focus areas.

5.      Take action: Deploy technologies and new approaches to save energy and reduce carbon. Businesses can get sector-specific information here, and learn about specific actions that can be taken here.

6.      Find finance and support: Businesses across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can identify specific programmes or initiatives to help them to finance their sustainability journey.

7.      Look beyond your business: Identify opportunities across the business’s entire value chain to reduce its impact, including creating a greener supply chain, using electric vehicles and transport, and get low carbon product labels and certifications.

SMBs can visit the UKBCH website to access an entire library of free resources, tools and advice to cut carbon, reduce energy use, and chart a course to net zero: https://businessclimatehub.uk/ 

Viewpoint

[Shenzhen, China, April 18, 2024] Huawei recently hosted a roundtable discussion titled “Intelligence Accelerates ICT Operations Transformation” at the Huawei Global Analyst Summit 2024. The event brought together analysts and customers from renowned organizations such as IDC, GlobalData, Analysys Mason, and ITSS to explore the ways in which intelligent technologies can revolutionize operation model and expedite digital transformation through upgrades of Operations systems.

Strengthening Global Network Reliability and Advancing New Generation Intelligent Operations

Lu Yu, President of Huawei Assurance and Operation Services Domain, said that as a top global provider of ICT infrastructure, Huawei is committed to ensuring the stable operation of customers’ networks worldwide through professional services. Huawei invests billions of RMB annually to facilitate and expedite the intelligent Operations transformation of global customers.

Huawei provides efficient customer support through its global network of technical assistance centers and spare parts centers, offering 24/7 technical assistance using processes like Issue to Resolution (ITR) and platforms like NetCareCloud. By integrating AI and knowledge graph technologies into network operation and maintenance scenarios, Huawei continually improves its ability to predict, prevent, and resolve issues, helping our customers to ensure the smooth operation of over 2,000 global key events, including the Olympic Games, World Cup, Asian Games, and Hajji.

Huawei is working closely with TM Forum and global customers to advance the new generation intelligent Operations transformation. Through continuous investment in cutting-edge technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and network digital twin (DTN), Huawei is integrating these innovations into specific O&M scenarios, upgrading its architectures and intelligent operation platforms like AUTIN and IMOC, and redefining the service-centric Operations indicator system. These efforts are helping customers transform their Operation models, improve efficiency, and maximize benefits.

Accelerating Operations Transformation with New Business Values, Services, and Technologies

According to Ye Rongchun, Director of Huawei’s Intelligent Operation Domain, the increasing complexity of communications service provider (CSP) services poses challenges for operations. However, the emergence of new technologies like GenAI presents opportunities for transformation. As more CSPs adopt service-centric operations, Huawei has identified the following key features for new generation intelligent operations:

New business values: As new services emerge, new business values and indicator systems are necessary to measure operations results. Huawei has developed the E.O.T model for digital transformation based on the TM Forum standard and framework. This model proposes multidimensional business value indicators, ranging from efficiency improvement to revenue increase and customer satisfaction improvement, to effectively measure business outcomes.

New services: Huawei has developed scenario-specific service solutions, including ToB deterministic SLA assurance service, ToH service assurance service, and ToC service loss reduction service, to ensure the availability of networks and services. These solutions enable customers to implement service-centric assurance alongside traditional network operations services, thereby improving overall service quality.

New technologies: The widespread adoption of new technologies, including GenAI, in the operations field still presents challenges such as model hallucination, insufficient high-quality corpora, and installed base reengineering. To address these challenges, Huawei has developed a suite of large model applications, including role-based copilots and scenario-specific agents, to assist operation engineers, improve customer satisfaction, and enable CSPs to monetize on large model technologies.

Huawei is thrilled to announce that at the DTW Summit in coming June, Huawei, in collaboration with the TM Forum, leading CSPs, and industry partners, will publish the New Generation Intelligent Operations White Paper 2.0. This updated version will provide valuable insights into the business practices and outcomes of service-centric operations transformation.

Kam-Shing Fung, the Vice President of Digital Transformation at HKT, highlighted the significant impact of GenAI and LLMs on the telecom industry. HKT has been utilizing GenAI technology since 2023 to transform towards value-driven ChatOps and experience-driven operations. This innovative solution has provided HKT with measurable benefits, aligning its operational agility and customer-centric operations strategies.

Intelligence Empowers Industry Operation Transformation

Lin Xiaobo, the Chief Architect of Industry O&M, Huawei’s ICT Assurance and Operation Services Domain, stated that the enterprise market is vast and diverse, with thousands of industries, each having unique O&M scenarios and requirements. To cater to these diverse needs, Huawei has been accumulating scenario-specific assets in industries such as government, finance, and transportation. This has enabled Huawei to advance its industry O&M service. Huawei offers the IMOC platform, which is based on triple chains (service chain, data chain, and deployment chain) and enables the visualization and management of ICT infrastructure and customer business, facilitating the digital transformation of industries.

Large and Small Model Collaboration Unlocks New Business Values of O&M Applications

Liu Yuliang, Senior Architect of ICT Assurance and Operation Services Domain, announced that Huawei has successfully utilized small models to develop capabilities such as multidimensional data correlation, time series anomaly detection, and root alarm identification, which have effectively resolved various specific O&M issues. Recently, Huawei has taken advantage of large model technologies such as chain of thought (CoT), corpus optimization, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), collaboration between large and small models, and over 30 years of O&M knowledge accumulation to build O&M assistants for field maintenance engineers (FMEs), front offices (FOs), and back offices (BOs). These O&M assistants enhance employee efficiency and effectiveness throughout the employee journey and implement experience-driven O&M assurance throughout the customer journey, resulting in a transformation of conventional O&M models.

The roundtable concluded with an enthusiastic discussion on the ICT operations indicator system, transformation pathways and business practices, and applications of large model technologies.

News

The change is one of new CEO Allison Kirkby’s first company moves 

BT has appointed McKinsey executive Tom Meakin to interim ‘Chief Strategy and Change Officer’, the Financial Times has reported. 

According to an internal memo seen by the news source, Meakin, who is the global co-leader of McKinsey’s Consumer Technology & Media Practice, has been appointed to the role while the company searches for a permanent candidate. 

In an email seen the Financial Times, Kirkby announced the creation of the ‘strategy and change’ unit, whose appointed head would sit on the executive committee to “drive the refresh of BT Group’s corporate strategy” and “define the next phase of our transformation.” 

The memo read that “Over the next few weeks, Tom will be working closely with myself and the ExCo [executive committee] to design the broader unit and make sure the accountabilities for both strategy and major change are in the right place, so we’re set up well to deliver across the company. 

Allison Kirkby has been in the role since February, after being appointed in July last year as the company’s first female CEO. Coming from the role of CEO at Swedish operator Telia, Kirkby was already a non-executive board member of BT. Since the beginning of her tenure, she has been challenged with strengthening the company’s share price, which has fallen by 17% since January. 

In related news, last week rumours circulated that BT could be set to sell off its Irish unit, after shelving the idea back in 2020. In 2019 at the time of the potential sale, the unit was worth around €300 million. The Irish unit is Europe’s largest telecoms service wholesalers by revenue and market share and the second largest fixed line wholesaler in the Republic of Ireland. 

Keep up to date with the latest telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

A Warrington-based company called Sunningdale Solutions has revealed that they’re planning to build a new gigabit-capable UK Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to serve homes and businesses in rural parts of Lancashire (England), which may be complemented by a Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network in certain locations.

The plan was revealed as part of the company’s application for Code Powers from Ofcom. Such powers are typically sought to help speed-up deployments of new fibre and cut costs, not least by reducing the number of licenses needed for street works. The powers can also help with supporting access to run new fibre via Openreach’s (BT) existing cable ducts and poles (PIA), which is something Sunningdale Solutions intends to harness.

At the time of writing, there’s still very little information available on Sunningdale Solutions, which is a small company that was first incorporated on 18th June 2020 (here) and is home to two Directors – Michael Taylor and Sharon Taylor.

The plan seems to be for the company to build and then sell retail and wholesale broadband services over the new network, which seems set to focus on areas of Lancashire that currently lack any FTTP coverage.

Code Powers Statement

The Applicant has stated that it intends to deploy its network in rural areas of Lancashire currently not served by such networks which suffer from slow broadband speeds and a lack of provider choice. It considers that people and businesses would benefit from the introduction of ultrafast full-fibre broadband services.

The Applicant also intends to provide other communications providers with access to the backhaul network that it intends to deploy to support its access network. It considers that this will allow a broader range of services offerings to the local economy and increased competition with improved connectivity.

However, Companies House describes the nature of this business as being a “management consultancy“, which engages in “activities other than financial management.” Suffice to say that it’s unclear what kind of network ownership and build structure will be involved here, and we also couldn’t find a website for the company. But hopefully more information will surface in the near future.

Australian investment group Macquarie has reportedly placed broadband ISP and full fibre network operator KCOM, which is the dominant operator in Hull and is also expanding further out into East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, under strategic review. The move could potentially result in a sale or merger of the business.

In case anybody has forgotten. Macquarie Infrastructure (MIRA / MEIF 6 Fibre), following a fierce bidding war with the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), finalised their £627m acquisition of Hull and East Riding’s incumbent broadband operator KCOM in August 2019 (here).

At the time, KCOM had only just finished its £85m “Lightstream” project (here), which made their gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network available to nearly all of their addressable network area (195,000 premises). But in 2020 they began a large £100m network expansion into more competitive areas (here), which was followed in 2022 by a second £100m fibre expansion and copper upgrade programme (here).

The latest development, according to the Telegraph (credits to Carl for spotting), is that Macquarie has allegedly appointed advisory-focused investment bank PJT Partners to conduct a strategic review of KCOM’s business. The speculation is that this move could potentially result in a sale or merger of the business with a rival operator, although such a proposition seems likely to be much more challenging this time around.

The original deal came at a time of low interest rates and easier access to funding, while the situation today is the opposite and the market (infrastructure level) is also much more competitive than in 2019. Not to mention that KCOM has since sold off some parts of its business (here) and is coming under pressure to grant rivals more access to run new fibre via their network (here). Suffice to say that KCOM may struggle to attract the same sort of money as they did five years ago.

On the other hand, growing network operators like CityFibre and nexfibre (Virgin Media O2) are currently looking to help boost their reach through consolidation and neither have any significant overbuild with KCOM. On top of that, KCOM delivered its first pre-tax profit in the year to the end of March 2023 (current earnings are said to be around £50m), which is something that a lot of alternative networks are still some distance from achieving.

In addition, the investment environment may soon start to improve once interest rates drop, although it will take time to move away from the current peaks. In any case, we probably won’t hear much more on this until later in the year, after the completion of the strategic review.

Consumer magazine Which? has published the results of their latest 2024 consumer survey of UK mobile operators, which revealed the best and worst providers. Overall the four primary operators (O2, EE, Vodafone and Three UK) came at or near the bottom of the table, while Tesco Mobile attracted the highest customer score.

The survey itself questioned 3,739 customers during January 2024, which produced an overall customer score based on service satisfaction and the customers’ likelihood to recommend the service to others. The caveat of this is that the scores for some operators – particularly the smallest Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) providers – will inevitably be based on a fairly small sample size, so take with a pinch of salt.

Overall, the highest rated mobile operator was Tesco, which delivered a customer score of 83%. In fact, the top half of the table was dominated by similar MVNO providers, while the primary operators could all be found toward the bottom of the table, with Three being named as the lowest rated provider.

Take note that Which? retains the full results for those who go out and buy their magazine, thus the online release only provides a basic summary of their overall customer scores.

Which? 2024 Mobile Survey
Tesco Mobile 83%
Smarty 82%
Giffgaff 80%
Talkmobile 79%
Voxi 77%
iD Mobile 77%
Lebara Mobile 76%
1p Mobile 72%
EE 69%
O2 68%
Sky Mobile 68%
Vodafone 68%
Asda Mobile 67%
BT Mobile 67%
Lycamobile 65%
Three UK 60% (down from 66% last year)

The Scottish Government (SG) has announced that both of its past and present broadband roll-out programmes, accounting for a total public investment of £1bn, have now helped more than 1 million extra premises (homes and businesses) in poorly served areas to gain access to a faster broadband ISP network.

The two programmes concerned include the SG’s £463m Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) project, which – running between 2014 and 2020 – expanded fibre-based broadband (mostly FTTC / VDSL2 and some FTTP from Openreach) to cover an additional 950,600 premises (over 150,000 more than originally anticipated). The focus of such schemes is typically on areas where commercial builds either wouldn’t reach or, without intervention, might have been left to wait years longer for a faster service.

On top of that, we also have the more recent £600m Reaching 100% (R100) project – with Openreach, which largely involves extending gigabit-capable “full fibre” (FTTP) networks to another 114,000 premises in areas that lack access to “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) speeds by 2027/28 – so far, it’s already covered 48,000 premises. But take note that their 48k figure includes the impact from both vouchers (3,800) and contracted build, as well as overspill (explainer).

The combination of both public and privately funded deployments means that, according to the latest Thinkbroadband data, some 96.14% of premises in Scotland can today access a “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) connection, while 76.06% already have access to gigabit-capable broadband (1000Mbps+) – dropping to 58.78% when only looking at FTTP lines.

Ofcom currently predicts (here) that Scotland’s full fibre coverage will reach around 78-83% by May 2026, while gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP and Hybrid Fibre Coax / cable) should deliver 83-85% by that same date.

Mairi McAllan, Wellbeing Economy Secretary, said:

“Fast and reliable broadband has never been so important: it is an increasingly vital tool for everything from work and leisure, healthcare and education. This is precisely why the Scottish Government has prioritised investment in digital connectivity in the 2024-25 Budget. Indeed, despite telecoms being reserved, we have now committed to investing more than £650 million across the DSSB and R100 programmes, recognising that faster broadband is a key building block for a green and growing economy.

Enabling more than one million connections to faster broadband is a landmark achievement in delivering this vision, and we are fully committed to ensuring as many people as possible can benefit from the advantages of future-proofed digital infrastructure to run businesses and services across the country.”

Fraser Rowberry, Chief Engineer for Openreach Scotland, said:

“Scotland’s digital journey is a story of resilience and progress. From adapting to remote work and learning during the pandemic to expanding ultrafast internet access, we’ve come a long way. Today’s milestone marks a massive engineering success, connecting people and businesses from Shetland to Stranraer, and we’re proud of the part we’ve played through our work with the Scottish Government.

Change on this scale, reaching even the most rural areas, is a testament to teamwork and determination. Let’s celebrate our achievements as we keep reaching for better connectivity across Scotland.”

However, in terms of gigabit broadband coverage, it’s clear that a gap will still be left for Scotland to fill once R100 completes and most of that will be in rural areas – only around 30% of rural Scotland can currently access gigabit speeds, although this is due to shrink further over the next few years.

The UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme is aware of this and has already allocated £450m (here) to help this project spread 1Gbps speeds into some of the most remote rural areas. The associated Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has previously estimated that some 410,000 premises across Scotland may need support from public funding to help them gain access to such speeds (here).

The Scottish Government is currently expected to launch their first Project Gigabit procurement, for the Borders and East Lothian areas, this month, and that is aiming to reach over 11,000 premises. Further procurements are expected to launch in phases throughout the rest of 2024 including in Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Aberdeen, Dundee and Moray Coast, and Orkney and Shetland, subject to market interest being confirmed.

Finally, projects for Central and North Scotland will be included within a future call-off procurement under the project’s cross-regional (type C) framework contract that is currently in procurement, which will be delivered by BDUK rather than the SG. Cross-regional contracts are arguably more tailored toward bigger operators (e.g. Openreach, Virgin Madia/Nexfibre, CityFibre etc.), largely because smaller players may have found the areas too challenging (i.e. little market interest was shown).