To review and agree recommended changes to the broadband delivery contracts with Gigaclear taking note of change of deployment, premises details, time line and costs.

The decision is to alter the council’s existing contracts with Gigaclear to expand their scope both in terms of the level of public subsidy (£1.975m) and the number of eligible premises that would be reached with full fibre broadband.  Agreeing this change would leverage no less than £1.85m private sector investment, see an extra c.700 premises becoming capable of accessing superfast broadband for the first time and c. 3,500 premises upgraded to full fibre across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

The decision will also mean altering the delivery plan to accommodate slippage on the current programme and the new delivery, extending the ultimate completion date from March 2020 to March 2022.  In order to mitigate the impact of any future changes to the timelines, a series of communications process improvements are also recommended.

In relation to recommendation (b) any approved schedule must ensure that the network/s that have been introduced or expanded to include the area around Newland must be complete by June 2020.  This is in order to utilise the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) funding made available for what had been designated as Cluster G8.

The change will also alter the Fastershire vision recognising the extended contract time scale and on-going deployment of superfast and full fibre broadband.