Project Gigabit open market review

Information sought from broadband suppliers about the existing network in Northern Ireland, to help target future subsidy support.

The Department for the Economy (DfE), along with Building Digital UK (BDUK), is developing a procurement approach for funding contracts to suppliers delivering gigabit-capable wholesale infrastructure in Northern Ireland.

This procurement approach will be a successor to the highly successful Superfast broadband programme and Project Stratum. As a result of significant commercial investment and vital public intervention in NI, an increasing number of homes and businesses now have access to improved broadband services, with gigabit-capable accessibility now the highest in the UK. As such, it may be the case that a future procurement under Project Gigabit may be smaller in scale to ongoing deployment under Project Stratum.

However, the scale and scope of a target intervention area will only be known as a result of extensive analysis of data following an Open Market Review and a subsequent Public Review.

DfE is inviting suppliers to provide information and data related to their infrastructure within NI. This will be reviewed together with data available through Ofcom’s Connected Nations publication to allow DfE to carry out an assessment of existing and planned broadband connectivity. 

Find out more about the Open Market Review and how to respond.

First published 15 December 2022