South Gloucestershire Members Broadband Briefing
Kingswood Civic Centre Monday 14th March 2016 David Perry Director of Corporate Resources Agenda
• Introduction to the council’s broadband rollout programme • Overview of Phase 1 including an update on project closure • Overview of Phase 2 SEP progress update
• Update on potential additional funding and next steps • Alternative options if our programme does not reach your area Introduction and background
• In 2011, Government set out its ambition that everyone should have access to a minimum of 2Mbps, and 90% of UK premises to have access to superfast broadband by 2015. – Will not fund access for everyone • Commercial market will deliver superfast broadband to 2/3rds of UK • Remaining 1/3 need public subsidy to make an investment attractive to commercial providers • Department for Culture, Media and Sport, allocated £294.8m funding to 45 project areas to improve access to broadband (BDUK). • Government funding had to be at least matched by local authorities • Gap funding model for the supplier State aid condition on use of public money
• European Commission granted UK an umbrella application enabling BDUK to assure and grant State Aid approval to projects without requiring individual notification to the EC. • Public money can only be invested in areas where there are no current, or planned (within the next three years) commercial rollout plans. • These are termed the “white areas” or “the intervention areas” where public subsidy can be invested. • Public subsidy can not be used in “black areas” or “grey areas” where one or more supplier(s) exist. • The National Framework for procurement was created and awarded to BT • Suppliers are required to contribute the remaining funding required and install the required infrastructure Project Background
• Great Western Broadband partnership was formed with Wiltshire Council for procurement and management of the project • 82% premises to have access to superfast broadband via commercial market by 2014 • 18% premises required public sector intervention • BDUK allocated £710k funding to South Gloucestershire Council • The Council approved £2m capital funding contribution • Project is being managed and resourced by council, BUT under a national framework contract. • Note this is an open infrastructure development project, this is different to who eventually supplies the actual service – internet service provider (ISP) to the premise South Gloucestershire “white areas”(18%) start of Phase 1 Network deployment Technology Overview
Wireless? Mobile 3G / 4G? Phase 1 Broadband Project overview
• Phase 1 contract signed on 31 January 2013 with BT • Investment breakdown £710k BDUK, £2m SGC, £1.9m BT • Initial contract target to deliver fibre broadband to 15,000 premises • Phase 1 contract delivered fibre broadband to 17,900 premises • 15,000 of these can access ‘superfast’ speeds of 24Mbps and above • 85 new fibre-enabled cabinets were installed as part of the project • Areas covered include; Aust, Badminton, Bradley Stoke, Charfield, Falfield, Hawkesbury Upton, Horton, Marshfield, Pilning, Pucklechurch, Rangeworthy, Tockington, Wick, Wickwar • Deployment completed on time in March 2015 exceeding targets • Came in under budget, so there is ‘underspend’ to reinvest • Residents need to ‘upgrade’ package Phase 1 - Delivery Cabinet Split # of Cabs %age THP Split %age
Sub-urban cabs 35 41% 7,500 42%
Rural cabs 31 37% 6,400 36%
Very rural cabs 19 22% 4,000 22%
85 100% 17,900 100%
• Take up is excellent – 35% enabling ‘gain-share’ for further fibre deployment as part of phase 2. • 94% Coverage Phase 2 Superfast Extension Programme (SEP) update
• Phase 2 contract signed on 27 March 2015 with BT • Investment breakdown £510k BDUK, £500k SGC, £534k BT • Phase 2 will install fibre broadband to an additional 3,000 homes and businesses across South Gloucestershire • Using ‘FTTC’ and ‘FTTP’ • Press release issued in November 2015 • Phase 2 coverage areas include; Acton Turville, parts of Aztec West, Bitton, Easter Compton, Falfield, Frenchay, Oldland, Redwick, Winterbourne and Upton Cheyney • 7 cabinets are already live; Almondsbury 8, Almondsbury 15, Almondsbury 16, Downend 2, Filton 23, Rangeworthy 3, Thornbury 18 • 93% Coverage Summary
• 2 mbps service commitment – satellite option • Delivery – at end of phase 1 = 94% of original intervention area – at end of current phase 2 = 93% of revised intervention area • 21,000 premises fibre enabled – target end of phase 2 = 95%+, but • Difficulty of changing parameters – ‘Open Market Review’ changes premises count and commercial coverage numbers Phase 1 coverage and Phase 2 potential coverage Connections Voucher Scheme
• In April 2015, the Council were able to include postcodes within South Gloucestershire to be eligible for SMEs through the Bristol Connection Voucher Scheme. • Between April 2015 and October 2015 when the scheme closed, 206 SME’s within South Gloucestershire benefited from the scheme providing £165k connection charges saving. • 40 selected bespoke packages • 166 selected pre-package offers. Additional funding for extending broadband coverage
• £600k - £800k Gain-share for take-up and potential understand from Phase 1. This will be re-invested in Phase 2 SEP. • £1.2m – additional funding from BDUK matched with WoE LEP Local Growth Fund 2 funding. • £1.5m - additional funding available from BDUK £10m West Ultrafast funding if SGC can match fund it by £1m. So far SGC has been able to match fund £145k.
Prioritisation for remaining intervention area e.g. vfm, speed, Supplier’s market analysis
We have engaged with the following independent suppliers to understand what they may be able to offer us and benefits/risks
Suppliers Technology Future Proof Current Deployment Airband Wireless Radio No Worcester, Shropeshire, Devon nation parks, Cornwall BT Fibre (FTTC, FTTP, FTRN, GfastYes UK wide Callflow FTTC / FTTP / Ultrafast Yes Berkshire, Kent, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset Gigaclear FTTP / Ultrafast Yes Berkshire, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire UK Broadband 4G / LTE No Swindon Opportunity to deploy hybrid solutions using multiple technology for greater broadband coverage? Opportunity to support community broadband schemes? Potential Issues For Discussion
• What is relative importance / priority of: – Future Proofing of Solution – Security/Stability of Network – Number of ISPs to customer – Ease and cost of installation, line rental availability – Speed of delivery on the ground – Prioritisation of delivery area • Urban vs Rural • Residential vs Business • Broadband uplift factor • Community Schemes Alternative options for communities
• Community Funded Project, often not ‘cheap’ and requires leadership within the community A gap-funded project between the community and BT www.bt-ngb.com/community-fibre-partnerships
• Basic Broadband - Universal Service Commitment (USC) - BDUK national satellite scheme for sub-2Mbps premises - Up to £400 subsidy towards the installation costs of a satellite solution met by the council - Resident or business can then choose which satellite package best suits their needs - Details on South Gloucestershire website pages - www.southglos.gov.uk/broadband Next Steps • Complete closure of Phase 1 • Complete consultation for gain-share and potential underspend • Model gain-share and potential underspend to extent superfast coverage • Try to secure additional match funding to access £1.5m ultrafast funding • Decide on method for investing additional funding - Phase 2 SEP or a new open procurement through an Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) process (six to nine month process) • Announce investment method • If you have any questions, contact Nita Patel or Rhianon Wakely • Further information can be found at www.southglos.gov.uk Thank you