Detailed Overview of the Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy Scheme
The government has published ‘Delivering a gigabit-capable UK: Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy‘ which provides an end to end overview of how the government will manage the Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy scheme within Project Gigabit.
By way of background, the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review published in July 2018 laid out a vision for a full fibre and 5G future for the UK highlighting the considerable potential benefits to the UK. One key finding was that the UK was in danger of falling behind on rolling out fibre and 5G connections and proposed as part of a wider range of measures an “outside in” procurement approach, named the Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy.
Under the United Kingdom/European Union Withdrawal Agreement of October 2019, all awards made prior to the end of the Transition Period (31 December 2020) continue to fall under the State Aid regime for a period of four years and need to be managed in accordance with the rules in that period. This also applies to future procurements and awards made under the Superfast Broadband Programme. DCMS is developing the UK Gigabit Programme within the UK Subsidy Control Regime and has published detailed guidance on the approach.