May 2025 Open Market Review into Superfast, Ultrafast and Gigabit Capable Broadband Infrastructure in Scotland: Outcome Report

Superfast, ultrafast and gigabit capable broadband infrastructure - Open Market Review May 2025: Outcome Report

1. Introduction and Background

The May 2025 broadband Open Market Review^[1] ran from 23 May 2025 to 23 June 2025.

The Scottish Government requested that suppliers submit their broadband infrastructure plans, confirming where gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure currently exists or is planned to be built in Scotland over the next 3 years.

We have now completed evaluating all submissions received and issued formal responses to all suppliers who submitted information over the course of this exercise, including the subsidy control classification treatment of their existing and/or planned qualifying broadband infrastructure.

Details on the classification system of Gigabit White, Grey, Black and Under Review and methodology can be found in section 3 of this document.

Further information on the Open Market Review (OMR)/Public Review (PR) process and how we reach our conclusions can be found in the Subsidy Control Guidance document^[2].

2. Purpose of the Rolling Open Market Review

The purpose of the OMR, which operates on a 4-monthly basis (January, May and September), is to ensure that the Scottish Government has the most up to date information about suppliers’ existing and planned build over the next 3-year period.

This supports better strategic planning and prioritisation of our procurement Intervention Areas (IAs), builds on the previous Scottish OMR process and minimises the risk of the Scottish Government intervening in an area that would disrupt existing commercial plans.

For further guidance on how the Scottish Government determines our IAs for subsidy, please refer to Section 6 ‘Determining Intervention Areas’ of the Subsidy Control Guidance document^[3].

The outcome of this OMR is shared with the UK Government to inform eligibility for Scottish call-offs from their National Gigabit Contract, GigaHubs and the Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme, as well as supporting the development of other potential UK Government interventions. Note that the UK Government currently collects data through their own rolling OMR process, however eligibility in Scotland is determined by the Scottish Government OMR only.

3. Subsidy Control Classifications and Methodology

During the OMR, the Scottish Government categorised premises as Gigabit White, Grey, Black or Under Review.

Subsidy control classifications are set out below:

• White - indicates premises with no gigabit network infrastructure and none is likely to be developed within 3 years
• Grey - indicates premises where a single qualifying gigabit infrastructure from a single supplier is available, or is to be deployed within the coming 3 years
• Black - indicates premises with two or more qualifying gigabit infrastructures from different suppliers being available, or will be deployed within the coming 3 years
• Under Review - indicates premises where suppliers have reported current or planned commercial broadband coverage, but where claimed current gigabit coverage has not been verified, or, in respect of planned build, where evaluators are confident that gigabit infrastructure will be delivered, but some risks to delivery remain, or there are some gaps in evidence

Note that there may be occasions where credible plans extend beyond a 3-year period, in which case the Scottish Government may take them into account.

The Scottish Government will only provide subsidy to target premises that have been designated as White. Premises which have been designated as Under Review may be included within the Deferred Scope of a procurement. Where this is the case, a further review will be undertaken to confirm whether they are Grey or White before they are released for build.

In accordance with the OMR/PR processes, supplier data submitted during the OMR has been mapped using an anonymised methodology that protects commercially sensitive supplier data.

4. Summary of May 2025 Open Market Review Outcome

For presentational purposes only, postcode-level mapping has been used to present the OMR map showing eligible premises. (Note we only subsidise build to premises which have been designated as White - postcodes are not used to determine IAs for subsidy).

For this purpose, postcodes have been classified as follows:

• A postcode is White if any White premises are present
• A postcode is Under Review if any Under Review premises are present
• A postcode is Black if all premises in the postcode are classified Black
• A postcode is Grey if all premises are Grey, or a mixture of Grey and Black

The May 2025 OMR postcode-level map summarising these premises classifications can be found in Appendix A.

The outcome of the May 2025 OMR is summarised in terms of Gigabit White, Grey, Black and Under Review postcodes and premises below which incorporates all of Scotland.

5. Open Market Review and Public Review Outcome Classifications

The data held by the Scottish Government following a PR is used to define IAs for procurements at a point in time. The OMR outcome data may therefore differ from the outcome of a PR due to the point in time that the data was captured.

IA eligibility is therefore defined using a combination of PR and OMR data (e.g. where a supplier has not contributed to the OMR, the PR would be expected to take precedence or where a supplier has updated their commercial plans, the OMR could supersede the PR). The data submitted to the OMR is processed in the same way as that submitted to previous OMRs and PRs. If the Scottish Government receives new data for UPRNs which have been the subject of a previous PR determination, providing it meets the evidential requirements, the Scottish Government may use OMR data to update the previous PR determinations at our own discretion.

This report includes the postcode and UPRN files referenced in this document. Note that there is a single postcode file for Scotland, with UPRN files split by local authority.

If you require any further information, please contact gigabitomr@gov.scot

6. Appendix A – Subsidy Control Classification by Postcode