Connecting Devon and Somerset

INCA Event hosted by Somerset County council22nd March 2016

‘The biggest Digital Infrastructure build opportunity for rural communities in England’

Phil RobertsCDS Programme Manager

‘The biggest Digital Infrastructure build opportunity for rural communities in England’

The CDS Programme Objectives

Our Local Broadband Plan places a high priority on:

• Delivering business growth – in the Programme Area to provide new employment, safeguard jobs and promote inward investment. – This is a key requirement for significant external funding contributors such as EU Funding under ERDF, – from the Local Enterprise Partnership and Devon and Somerset County Councils.

• Supporting social needs – Areas of significant deprivation which tend to be in harder to reach rural areas and in some urban wards.– A key priority therefore is to ensure that hard to reach rural areas are not passed over in favour of easier urban/suburban areas. – Parity in terms of retail offerings and pricing to rural areas.

• Public sector transformation – Public finances finding digital solutions to maintain, improve and enhance services is a top priority for the local authority partners within

CDS. – This includes developing community self-help initiatives, – creating more efficient methods of delivery and encompasses Local Authority, Blue Light and Health Services.

The Programme Area consists of 6 upper tier Local Authorities and whilst generally the Area is to be treated as a single Local Broadband Plan, it is imperative that each LA receives benefit from the Programme investment.

Where financial contributions have been committed by Local Authorities these funds need to deliver benefits for the residents and businesses within each local authority area.

The Requirements for the ITT

• The OMR has commenced with the Public Consultation to be issued imminently– Improved assessment process using Ordinance Survey Address base plus– We aim to issue ITT with SOR detailed at premise level, – Based on operators responses, covering current build plus plans for next three years – Of these, CDS is aware that a percentage of these are currently able to access broadband services

between 24 – 30 Mbps headline speed. (See definitions in next bullet)

• Next Generation Access (NGA) White premises (ie with less than 30 Mbps) – The BDUK programme has defined Superfast at 24 Mbps, and has measures in place to count

coverage at this level.– State Aid Guidelines refer to NGA compliancy requirements utilising Technologies capable of

delivering to at least 30Mbps– There is no difference between the programmes in this respect– However the OMR process will measure above and below the 30Mbps– CDS will evaluate on coverage that offers the optimum Speed uplift for the Business Case put

forward by Bidders

The Objectives of the ITT• CDS has the following objectives:

– As much NGA coverage as possible by the end of 2017 • this is an area CDS want to discuss with suppliers in more depth to ascertain what is

achievable in this timeframe.

– A Minimum of 95% NGA coverage for the whole of the Geographical Area – Achieve 100% NGA Coverage by 2020– Delivery of the ultrafast requirement by end of 2017, as set out in the

South West Regional Fund agreement– Significant level of business connections achieved by the end of 2018.– Prioritisation of “Speed uplift” in contract to meet NGA compliancy

requirements

The Objectives further defined• This tender is focused on outcomes for NGA delivery only. • Improved Speeds & Uplift:

– There is a requirement from suppliers to provide as much superfast coverage as possible, and to reach a minimum level of superfast connectivity.

– We can evaluate the impact of improved speeds for residents and businesses, but only at the aggregate level of the Broadband Access Network being delivered, where NGA guidelines require a Step Change to be delivered.

• Community Coverage:– CDS also require deployment to be taken forward on a whole community approach, ensuring that

partial community coverage is minimised within the optimum design of the solution proposed. – Its worth noting the Intervention Area is composed of a large number of partially delivered

communities • This is further defined in the planning phase, where a community level solution is sought. • This will be explored more fully under the next round of engagement with suppliers.

• Public Sector Funding obligations:– There is a requirement for business connections and delivery of superfast services to areas where

there is a high density of businesses. – A clear audit trail and monitoring of delivery against these targets – A timescale target with the majority being achieved by the December 2018.

Approach to ITT coverage using Lots:Key outcomes from Early market Engagement have been:• Lotting is welcomed by the majority of suppliers with

– A desire to ensure that lots can be aggregated and can include a super lot for the whole area– A desire to have a blend of higher population densities with lower levels of density in each lot. – We are still developing thinking, and would like to continue to refine our requirements through

our ongoing engagement.

• Current view on the details of Lots– There are several options for the number of Lots, ranging in number of premises from 15,000 to

25,000 resulting in between 4 – 6 defined areas. – Possibility of a ‘Superlot’ being an amalgamation of some or all of the lots. – Option for Bidders to submit their proposal for some or all CDS Lots. – Bidders must submit their breakdown of pricing for individual Lots in order for CDS to evaluate

value for money against Individual Lot Bids.

Ultrafast – The South West Regional Fund• CDS secured additional BDUK funding of £4m to

– Deliver Ultrafast Broadband wholesale services using appropriate technologies,

– Provide access to fast, secure broadband infrastructure, which represents good value for money.

– Suppliers will need to demonstrate they can provide:• Ultrafast wholesale broadband infrastructure able to reach a minimum of

4,000 premises by December 2017. This is an additional requirement to the delivery of as much superfast coverage by 2017.

• Provision for promotion and support/ training to encourage business take-up of Ultrafast Broadband and improved digital skills

• Provision of £4m supplier match funding: BDUK requires 100% match funding to its £4m allocation to CDS.

• Evaluation of The Commercial model

• It became evident that a Gap Funding Model is the preferred route of majority of suppliers, – Provisions for clawback and reinvestment as part of this approach are well

known and understood by the market. – As we develop our Contract Terms and Conditions these will be explicit

requirements. • Funding Commitment from CDS

– Public sector Subsidy will be circa £40M, plus the ultrafast £4M, thus totalling circa £44M

– Our expectation is that bidders will contribute both • capital match and operational expenditure • to support our requirements through the Gap Funded ITT

• Implementation Planning– Principles to support:

• CDS requires certainty regarding implementation and good visibility of in life costs to support communications with residents and to manage expectations.

• There is also a requirement to measure value for money as part of joint decision making over where changes to plans become necessary.

• CDS also require a focus on whole community solutions to be considered and developed at the planning stage, to ensure that optimum solutions can be delivered and take up maximised.

– Principles to be included in the ITT:• Each community / phase / stage to be fully planned to give greater certainty and clarity

for deployment and plans agreed and jointly signed off based on this planning output• An overall Implementation Plan, built up from community / phase / stage proposals• Plans to include both Infrastructure level details and NGA homes / premises passed

outcomes

• Monitoring, Quality Assurance & Financial Principles– ITT to include Open Book Accounting

• Assess variance of planned costs with modelled costs• Measure delivery with variance assessed to planned costs• Assure actual costs are in line with Cost book• Pay against delivered Stages and actual costs• Retention sum payable on successful completion of the contract • Contingency sum: CDS may opt to hold a contingency sum outside

of the contract sum to deal with genuine cost over runs –– We would like to discuss supplier’s views on this, – Also on how this could be applied across a Lot-based procurement.

• Community Build & Involvement:– To provide for In Very Rural areas• There is a need to ensure that the following provisions

are made within the Supplier contract(s):– Community hub solutions – scope for CDS pump priming and

private leverage, including supplier– Options for Self dig, wifi mesh, point of presence – and other

options put forward by suppliers – We very much welcome debating these principles with

bidders, and on how they can be effectively implemented

• Communications & Marketing

• CDS expects successful bidders to jointly develop a Plan for engaging with communities and residents. – There is an expectation that this will set out clear role and responsibilities, and any

joint funding needed to deliver this activity.– The Plan would cover engagement with key audiences, such as, MPs, Councillors,

communities, business organisations and funders. • • CDS expects Suppliers to contribute fully towards the following marketing

activities:– Demand stimulation, Take-up & aggregation; – scope for community engagement activities– supplier marketing & promotion resources and budget.

• The Retail Service Offering– Key principle in the CDS Local Broadband Plan

• Providing parity between rural broadband services and those in urban areas.

• CDS will encourage suppliers to bring forward more than one retail offer through their engagement with retailers and to drive the best price possible for the end user.

• CDS would like to understand how – Working with RSPs to ensure that wholesale products evolve to

meet changing end user requirements – How bidders will monitor and manage the relationship with RSPs

and the service received by end user customers.

•

• The CDS Data Room – We are in the process of building on our existing content in our Data

Room. It currently contains the following kinds of information:• Local Authority Assets, legal arrangements for way leaves & approvals• National Parks, AONB and SSSI information and location data• Major Landowner mapping and location data• Major Works, Highways Noticing and Permit Scheme arrangements• OMR Data & mapping.

– We would like to talk to you about your further requirements for Local Body/Programme Area information to assist you during the bidding process.