Reaching 100% (R100) rollout and the online address checker: FOI release

Information requested

Reaching 100% (R100) rollout and the online address checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com:

• How many households have so far been connected in each of the three lots?
• Can you please advise how the postcode checker data is supplied and updated and how often this happens?
• What checks are made to ensure that the data on the R100 postcode checker match that of Openreach’s own fibre rollout checker?
• How many times have households had dates changed on the R100 postcode checker? For example if one household has had their date changed three times that would count as three instances.
• From the R100 postcode checker, broken down to the three contract lots, how many households are being given dates for build completion in the next twelve months and then in twelve month ‘buckets’ beyond that until the intended completion dates?

Response

The responses to your questions are provided below.

How many households have so far been connected in each of the three lots?

Our latest assured figures show that, as of 30 November 2022, a total of 15,149 connections have been delivered through the R100 contracts – 3,650 through the R100 North contract, 5,761 through the R100 Central contract and 5,738 through the R100 South contract.

We are also delivering connections through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS), ensuring those who are not expected to benefit from superfast broadband coverage – through either the R100 contracts or commercial build – can secure a superfast connection utilising a voucher worth up to £5,000. As of 5 January 2023, 2,842 connections have been delivered through use of the SBVS.

Can you please advise how the postcode checker data is supplied and updated and how often this happens?

The R100 programme regularly gathers and analyses data from broadband providers operating in Scotland. This data lets us see which specific addresses they currently provide superfast broadband to now, and which addresses they plan to provide this service for in the future. Based on this information, the R100 programme can then determine which addresses in Scotland do not currently have access to superfast broadband, and are not included in commercial plans to be able to access superfast broadband in the future. The R100 programme updates this data every four weeks, where any new data has been provided.

More information on this can be found under the Mapping Information heading on the Your Questions section of the Scotland Superfast website at https://scotlandsuperfast.com/guidance/your-questions/.

What checks are made to ensure that the data on the R100 postcode checker match that of Openreach’s own fibre rollout checker?

As part of the process described above, Openreach provide regular data updates to help inform our online checker. However, while Openreach’s own fibre rollout checker is live, our online checker is updated every four weeks, as we gather information from a wider range of suppliers. As such, we do not directly compare checkers.

How many times have households had dates changed on the R100 postcode checker?

As of January 2023, around 3% of all properties recorded on the R100 online tracker have had their indicative delivery timeframes changed. Of that 3%, the vast majority have experienced between 1-3 changes, with a small number of properties experiencing between 4-7 changes.

There are a variety of reasons which may result in a property having its indicative delivery timescale changed on the website – for example, a connection has now been delivered, contractual changes have been made or Openreach have provided updates to advise of new delivery dates, where connections have been delayed.

It is worth noting that changes can result in the indicative delivery timeframes for properties either being brought forward in the delivery plan or pushed back. It should also be noted that we only provide indicative delivery timeframes for properties included in R100 contract build plans.

From the R100 postcode checker, broken down to the three contract lots, how many households are being given dates for build completion in the next twelve months and then in twelve month ‘buckets’ beyond that until the intended completion dates?

The figures provided below are correct, as of 20 December 2022. However, please note that these are the timescales as currently displayed through the R100 online checker for premises which are not listed as 'Already Enabled' - these are not contractual timescales and do not reflect the number of premises remaining to be connected through the R100 contracts.

	North	Central	South
2023	6,559	11,116	5,962
2024	6,886	4,605	5,485
2025	10,760		2,406
2026	12,115
2027	11,280
2028	2,376

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.