Building Digital UK (BDUK) has carried out significant market engagement across the UK to identify potential areas for government intervention to roll out gigabit-capable broadband.  

Following a fair and open procurement process, BDUK has signed a framework agreement with Openreach, with a value of up to £800 million, to provide around 312,000 hard-to-reach premises with access to gigabit-capable broadband.

The cross-regional framework predominantly delivers to rural premises that are not included in any supplier’s commercial rollout, in areas where there was insufficient appetite, credibility or capacity from suppliers to bid for smaller procurements. The framework will allow the delivery of multiple call-off contracts, covering premises in different clusters of geographic regions of the UK.   

The first six call-off contracts have been awarded under the framework, covering premises in the following areas:

• Lancashire, North Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire, West and Mid Surrey, Staffordshire, West Berkshire and Hertfordshire (£149.7 million, 54,300 premises)

• West and North Devon, North West, Mid and South East Wales (£139.1 million, 42,200 premises)

• East and South Shropshire, North Herefordshire, North Wales, and South West Wales (£108 million, 47,000 premises)

• Mid Devon, North Somerset, and South Devon (£77 million, 37,000 premises)

• Essex and North East England (£61 million, 24,000 premises)

• Worcestershire (£41 million, 22,000 premises)

Further procurement procedures are underway for additional call-offs under the agreement.

BDUK and councils across Great Britain will work with Openreach to ensure that network build commences immediately. An amount of preparatory and planning work is required to reach premises (for example, digging trenches, laying duct, installing fibre) prior to citizens being able to access services. The first premises under this contract are anticipated to have access to gigabit-capable broadband in early 2025. Once the gigabit-capable network has been built, residents and businesses will be able to request a connection from a broadband service provider to benefit from the improved speeds.

Below is a list of maps of the areas due to be upgraded in the first six awarded call-offs.

Please note the premises to be reached by the contract is subject to change following further market research which may indicate that a connection has already been provided by another provider, or through extraordinary engineering difficulties during the lifetime.

• North Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire

• Hertfordshire

• West and Mid Surrey

• Staffordshire

• West Berkshire

• Lancashire

• South East Wales 

• North West and Mid Wales

• West and North Devon

• North Herefordshire

• Shropshire

• South West Wales

• North Wales

• South, Mid Devon and North Somerset

• Essex

• North East

• Worcestershire

Further detail on the premises due to be upgraded as part of this network build contract will be available on this page in due course. 

If your premises is not currently within the planned contract build, this may be for one of the following reasons:

• Gigabit-capable infrastructure currently exists in your area 

• Your premises is part of another Project Gigabit contract or other subsidy scheme. This may include work planned as part of existing voucher projects through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme 

• Broadband network suppliers have indicated to us as part of our Open Market Review process that they have plans to reach you as part of their commercial build plans.  

• Your premises is outside of the scope of this project owing to cost or difficulty in reaching it with gigabit-capable infrastructure. The government is considering additional policy solutions for ‘Very Hard to Reach’ premises.

This contract is part of a wider strategy for Project Gigabit, with other local and regional procurements to build gigabit-capable infrastructure planned and underway across the UK. A list of awarded Project Gigabit contracts can be viewed here. 

Under Project Gigabit the government is also providing up to £210 million worth of voucher funding as immediate help for people experiencing slow broadband speeds in rural areas. You can find out if you are eligible for a voucher on the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme website. 

Further information about Project Gigabit can be found on the BDUK website and under Project Gigabit: UK Subsidy advice.