Buyer Name: Department for the Economy
Buyer Address: Adelaide House, 39-49 Adelaide Street, BELFAST, UK, BT2 8FD, United Kingdom
Contact Email: strategicdelivery.cpd@finance-ni.gov.uk
DfE Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy – Regional Supplier Contract for Northern Ireland
Buyer Contact Info
Status
complete
complete
Procedure
selective
selective
Value
81000000.0 GBP
81000000.0 GBP
Published
23 Dec 2025, 09:01
23 Dec 2025, 09:01
Deadline
n/a
n/a
Contract Start
n/a
n/a
Contract End
n/a
n/a
Category
services
services
CPV
32520000 - Telecommunications cable and equipment
32520000 - Telecommunications cable and equipment
Region
n/a
n/a
Awarded To
FIBRUS LTD
FIBRUS LTD
Official Source
Open Find a Tender
Open Find a Tender
Description
The UK Government has committed GBP5bn to enable hard-to-reach communities to access gigabit-capable broadband. This is being spent through a package of coordinated and mutually supportive interventions, collectively known as Project Gigabit. Project Gigabit, is a UK Government intervention to provide a subsidy to support the deployment of a gigabit speed broadband network to cover premises across Northern Ireland that would otherwise not be provided with access to gigabit broadband speeds, as these premises do not present a commercially viable investment for a private sector operator. Project Gigabit is a strategically important initiative for Northern Ireland’s society (people and businesses), is a key enabler for delivering the DfE Minister’s Economic Vision, and will help to maintain Northern Ireland’s connectivity and infrastructure at a level that is competitive with Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and is attractive to inward investment. As part of this DfE, along with Building Digital UK (BDUK), is developing a procurement approach to incentivise the telecoms market to invest in delivering gigabit capable wholesale infrastructure in areas not considered to be commercially viable for new infrastructure. This procurement approach will be a successor to the much-needed Superfast broadband programme and DfE’s broadband intervention, Project Stratum. The overarching aim of Project Gigabit is, simply stated, to provide universal, or near universal, gigabit-capable broadband coverage in Northern Ireland by increasing provision in areas which are currently poorly served and not capable of attracting wholly commercial investment. The project aim can be categorised into three key objectives: • Address market failure, whilst maintaining and promoting competition within the market. It is currently not commercially viable for telecoms service providers to extend gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure to many of the presently unserved premises in Northern Ireland. • Maximise gigabit-capable broadband coverage in a way that is balanced and supportive of rural areas and communities. • Choose procurement and delivery options which seek to maximise value for money (in terms of a balance of quality of technology/products, coverage, timescale and cost to Government), mitigate risk, incentivise performance and meet affordability criteria for Government and for end users.
Linked Documents
No linked documents found for this notice.
Opportunity Context
Lots
Lot Description: The UK Government has committed GBP5bn to enable hard-to-reach communities to access gigabit-capable broadband. This is being spent through a package of coordinated and mutually supportive interventions, collectively known as Project Gigabit. Project Gigabit, is a UK Government intervention to provide a subsidy to support the deployment of a gigabit speed broadband network to cover premises across Northern Ireland that would otherwise not be provided with access to gigabit broadband speeds, as these premises do not present a commercially viable investment for a private sector operator. Project Gigabit is a strategically important initiative for Northern Ireland’s society (people and businesses), is a key enabler for delivering the DfE Minister’s Economic Vision, and will help to maintain Northern Ireland’s connectivity and infrastructure at a level that is competitive with Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and is attractive to inward investment. As part of this DfE, along with Building Digital UK (BDUK), is developing a procurement approach to incentivise the telecoms market to invest in delivering gigabit capable wholesale infrastructure in areas not considered to be commercially viable for new infrastructure. This procurement approach will be a successor to the much-needed Superfast broadband programme and DfE’s broadband intervention, Project Stratum. The overarching aim of Project Gigabit is, simply stated, to provide universal, or near universal, gigabit-capable broadband coverage in Northern Ireland by increasing provision in areas which are currently poorly served and not capable of attracting wholly commercial investment. The project aim can be categorised into three key objectives: • Address market failure, whilst maintaining and promoting competition within the market. It is currently not commercially viable for telecoms service providers to extend gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure to many of the presently unserved premises in Northern Ireland. • Maximise gigabit-capable broadband coverage in a way that is balanced and supportive of rural areas and communities. • Choose procurement and delivery options which seek to maximise value for money (in terms of a balance of quality of technology/products, coverage, timescale and cost to Government), mitigate risk, incentivise performance and meet affordability criteria for Government and for end users. Additional information: The Supplier should note that there may be future changes in the scale of the services required duringthe term of the Contract that could not be identified or foreseen at the time of this procurement exercise, but which are consistentwith the overall nature of the Authority’s’ current and future operational requirements for a gigabit speed broadband network to coverpremises across Northern Ireland as defined in the specification and associated documents/appendices. In such circumstances, theAuthority may seek to agree a modification to the Contract to facilitate the provision of such services by the Supplier, with the Charges.for such services to be determined in accordance with Clause 48 by reference to and consistent with the pricing parameters andassumptions used by the Supplier in its Financial Model and by reference to the mechanisms and protections provided in the Conditionsof Contract. It is envisaged that such modifications would be made without requiring a new procurement procedure in accordancewith Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. An example of such changes could include future requirements to includepremises identified through OMR / PR as “White” but the Authority has decided to defer build until later in the contract, and/or premisesidentified through OMR / PR as “Under Review”. Examples: • premises identified through OMR / PR as “White” which could be targeted.under a procurement but the contracting authority has decided to defer build until later in the contract for reasons which may include.the premises not being a priority for build within the Initial Scope; and/or • premises in areas where gigabit infrastructure may become.available through other means e.g. through commercial or voucher-funded build; and/or • premises identified through Open Market.Review / Public Review as “Under Review”. The Local Area Review process will be used to monitor developments in the Lot on an annualbasis and if required further premises are added using contract change control subject to further funding being made available and that itrepresents VFM
Lot 1 Status: cancelled
Lot 1 Has Options: No
Lot 1 Award Criterion (quality): Quality
Lot 1 Award Criterion (cost): Commercial
Contracts
Contract Title: DfE Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy – Regional Supplier Contract for Northern Ireland
Awards
Award Title: DfE Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy – Regional Supplier Contract for Northern Ireland
Raw Notice JSON
Expand raw payload
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"description": "The UK Government has committed GBP5bn to enable hard-to-reach communities to access gigabit-capable broadband. This is being spent through a package of coordinated and mutually supportive interventions, collectively known as Project Gigabit. Project Gigabit, is a UK Government intervention to provide a subsidy to support the deployment of a gigabit speed broadband network to cover premises across Northern Ireland that would otherwise not be provided with access to gigabit broadband speeds, as these premises do not present a commercially viable investment for a private sector operator. Project Gigabit is a strategically important initiative for Northern Ireland\u2019s society (people and businesses), is a key enabler for delivering the DfE Minister\u2019s Economic Vision, and will help to maintain Northern Ireland\u2019s connectivity and infrastructure at a level that is competitive with Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and is attractive to inward investment. As part of this DfE, along with Building Digital UK (BDUK), is developing a procurement approach to incentivise the telecoms market to invest in delivering gigabit capable wholesale infrastructure in areas not considered to be commercially viable for new infrastructure. This procurement approach will be a successor to the much-needed Superfast broadband programme and DfE\u2019s broadband intervention, Project Stratum. The overarching aim of Project Gigabit is, simply stated, to provide universal, or near universal, gigabit-capable broadband coverage in Northern Ireland by increasing provision in areas which are currently poorly served and not capable of attracting wholly commercial investment. The project aim can be categorised into three key objectives: \u2022 Address market failure, whilst maintaining and promoting competition within the market. It is currently not commercially viable for telecoms service providers to extend gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure to many of the presently unserved premises in Northern Ireland. \u2022 Maximise gigabit-capable broadband coverage in a way that is balanced and supportive of rural areas and communities. \u2022 Choose procurement and delivery options which seek to maximise value for money (in terms of a balance of quality of technology/products, coverage, timescale and cost to Government), mitigate risk, incentivise performance and meet affordability criteria for Government and for end users. Additional information: The Supplier should note that there may be future changes in the scale of the services required duringthe term of the Contract that could not be identified or foreseen at the time of this procurement exercise, but which are consistentwith the overall nature of the Authority\u2019s\u2019 current and future operational requirements for a gigabit speed broadband network to coverpremises across Northern Ireland as defined in the specification and associated documents/appendices. In such circumstances, theAuthority may seek to agree a modification to the Contract to facilitate the provision of such services by the Supplier, with the Charges.for such services to be determined in accordance with Clause 48 by reference to and consistent with the pricing parameters andassumptions used by the Supplier in its Financial Model and by reference to the mechanisms and protections provided in the Conditionsof Contract. It is envisaged that such modifications would be made without requiring a new procurement procedure in accordancewith Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. An example of such changes could include future requirements to includepremises identified through OMR / PR as \u201cWhite\u201d but the Authority has decided to defer build until later in the contract, and/or premisesidentified through OMR / PR as \u201cUnder Review\u201d. Examples: \u2022 premises identified through OMR / PR as \u201cWhite\u201d which could be targeted.under a procurement but the contracting authority has decided to defer build until later in the contract for reasons which may include.the premises not being a priority for build within the Initial Scope; and/or \u2022 premises in areas where gigabit infrastructure may become.available through other means e.g. through commercial or voucher-funded build; and/or \u2022 premises identified through Open Market.Review / Public Review as \u201cUnder Review\u201d. The Local Area Review process will be used to monitor developments in the Lot on an annualbasis and if required further premises are added using contract change control subject to further funding being made available and that itrepresents VFM",
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"title": "DfE Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy \u2013 Regional Supplier Contract for Northern Ireland"
}
}