Invitation to joint supplier engagement briefing – broadband providers

The Marches Broadband projects are committed to improving broadband connectivity across the Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Telford & Wrekin areas. The projects (Connecting Shropshire, Fastershire and Superfast Telford) are working together to secure European Funding in order to provide subsidies to SMEs across the Marches to enable them to access business grade broadband services.

To this end, we’re inviting broadband providers to attend a joint supplier engagement briefing in Shropshire Council’s Shirehall on Friday 4 March 2016, starting at 11.30am.

The purpose of this high-level engagement is to check our current understanding of what the market has to offer to assist the councils to deliver a project to address a number of specific broadband gaps in the Marches area. This initial meeting is intended as early market engagement only.

The broadband gaps will ultimately present a number of potential commercial opportunities for interested suppliers.

Across the Marches area we project that up to 6,000 SME premises may eventually fall into the final 5%. The premises are not expected to be served by superfast broadband from either an existing or planned commercial connection, or from a BDUK-funded contract.The Marches Broadband Teams are assessing project opportunities that could potentially use available ERDF funding, to provide SMEs with access to grants. The grant would enable an SME to seek a competitive market solution for a Superfast Broadband (30mbps+) connection.

The grant will aim to replicate the key principles of the recently closed Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme (https://www.connectionvouchers.co.uk/). The Marches projects will use the event to help design the scope of such a scheme and therefore the views of potential suppliers will be very much welcomed.

Across the Marches, all three councils are currently offering the Basic Broadband Subsidy Scheme. The Marches Broadband Teams would be interested to understand the market’s current commercial provision for alternative technologies that could address some of those premises that currently fall within the scope of the ‘infill’ (under 2mbps) scheme.

The event will provide an opportunity to have an open dialogue about the specific requirements that the councils have for scoping and delivering solutions for the above requirements.

If you would like to attend the event, please register the names and positions of your delegates with connecting.shropshire@shropshire.gov.uk. This is a supplier-only event. A full agenda will be issued in due course. The event is expected to run from 11.30am to 2pm.

We request that you submit, in advance, a summary of your recent product/service information and experiences of the closed Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme. Please limit your submission to four sides of A4 and send by email attachment to: connecting.shropshire@shropshire.gov.uk.

Whilst we welcome open and frank discussions, the Marches Broadband team appreciate that potential suppliers may wish to discuss areas they deem as commercially sensitive. To help you with this we would like to offer you the opportunity for a private 30-minute discussion with members of the team in order to develop and clarify your understanding of our emerging requirements. We would ask that you set out this specific requirement in your email response. You can book a session now for immediately after the joint supplier engagement briefing at 2pm on the 4 March.

Disclaimer

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not the commencement of any formal procurement process and the Marches councils are not committed to carrying out such a process. Any response to this notice does not guarantee any invitation to participate in any procurement processes that may be undertaken by the Marches Broadband projects.

This early market engagement exercise is intended to allow suppliers to outline their views and to provide information to the Marches councils’ decision-making process.

The councils will consider the information received as a result of this exercise to help inform their options appraisal and subsequent councils’ decision-making process.

This information is solely for the purpose of the current early market engagement process and no representation, warranty, or undertaking is given by the councils as to its accuracy or completeness, and the councils accept no liability in relation to it.