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, in 2024 BDUK signed a framework agreement with OpenreachOpenreach, 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.   

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

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

BDUK and councils across Great Britain will work with Openreach to support their network build. 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 agreement 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 seven awarded call-offs.

Please note the premises to be reached by these contracts 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.

Further detail on the premises due to be upgraded as part of these contracts canis bepublished viewedas usingpart theof onlineBDUK’s addresstransparency checkerdata showing premises in BDUK plans. ThisNote, servicethis is currently for England and Wales only. There are different services available for Scotland or Northern Ireland.

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.

• 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.

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