National Broadband Plan specifications

Summary

The requester asked for detailed service specifications and rollout obligations for the National Broadband Plan from both the tender process and the final contract, excluding financial data. The Department for Enterprise provided the requested non-financial specifications but withheld specific financial information regarding subsidy payments.

Key Facts

• The National Broadband Plan aims for at least 99% fibre broadband (FTTP) coverage of residential and business premises.
• The intervention area covers approximately 25% of premises where high-speed broadband was deemed uneconomic.
• Manx Telecom was appointed as the provider and is subject to obligations in return for phased subsidy payments.
• The appointed provider is also subject to regulatory obligations due to having Significant Market Power (SMP).
• Specific financial information was withheld as it constitutes an actionable breach of confidence.

Data Disclosed

• 99%
• 1 Gb/s
• 5 years
• 25%
• 2020-07-15
• 2020-08-10
• 1368137

Exemptions Cited

• Section 26 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Actionable breach of confidence)

Original Request

The detailed service specifications and rollout obligations to the designated operator as contained in the tender process. The detailed service specifications and rollout obligations to the designated operator as contained in the final contract. My request is not about any financial information, that should be omitted in your answer.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 687381) Website: www.gov.im/ded Email: anthony.walker@gov.im

Our ref: 1368137 4 August 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 15 July 2020 and which states:

"The detailed service specifications and rollout obligations to the designated operator as contained in the tender process. The detailed service specifications and rollout obligations to the designated operator as contained in the final contract. My request is not about any financial information that should be omitted in your answer."

Our response to your request is as follows:

I have enclosed copies of the requested information. Please also note that within the attached response there are hyperlinks to other publications which you may find useful. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the specific financial information regarding the above is absolutely exempt under section 26 of the Act, as disclosure would constitute an actionable breach of confidence. Please quote the reference number 1368137 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely

Information request Our reference: 1368137

“The detailed service specifications and rollout obligations to the designated operator as contained in the tender process.
The detailed service specifications and rollout obligations to the designated operator as contained in the final contract.
My request is not about any financial information, that should be omitted in your answer. "

The tender for the National Broadband Plan (NBP) was a process designed to procure commitments from telecom operators to deploy high-speed network infrastructure across the Isle of Man.

The National Telecommunications Strategy1 sets a target coverage for fibre broadband (FTTP – fibre to the premises) of at least 99% of residential and business premises. There was also an ambition to reach speeds of up to 1 Gb/s within 5 years. To work towards this target, the Isle of Man Government sought offers to provide wholesale FTTP broadband services in prescribed intervention areas. The intervention area covered approximately 25% of all premises on the island where it is was expected that providing high-speed broadband services was likely to be uneconomic.

The appointed provider (Manx Telecom) is subject to certain obligations in return for receipt of phased subsidy payments on achievement of coverage targets. These obligations, and the corresponding subsidy payments, are being implemented through a contract between the Department and the provider.

Alongside these contractual obligations, the appointed provider, by virtue of having Significant Market Power (SMP) within relevant wholesale markets, is also subject to regulatory obligations. The Isle of Man Communications Commission (the Commission) defines SMP as undertakings having the power to behave to an appreciable extent independently of competitors, customers and ultimately consumers. The Commission has published a living document2, setting out the likely market designations, SMP findings and associated obligations that apply in various hypothetical scenarios for the appointment of different providers.

Future regulatory developments are to some degree uncertain, as the regulatory environment may change in response to changes in market conditions, technology or public policy. However, this risk affects all investments in telecommunications infrastructure, not just those that would be required to meet obligations arising from

1 See http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/opqp/sittings/20182021/2018-GD-0062.pdf 2 https://www.iomcc.im/information-centre/news-updates/2019/sep/telecoms-regulation-after-the-national-broadband- plan-award/ the NBP. We also noted that creating an environment that is investment-friendly is a statutory objective for the Commission3.

This scheme follows a so-called ‘gap funding’ model, in which subsidy is intended to compensate providers for economic losses they would otherwise make in providing the required services, using infrastructure operated and owned by the provider.

The provider is subject to contractual obligations to roll-out an FTTP network within the 9 intervention zones. For the duration the contract, it must offer two wholesale services to operators providing high-speed broadband services:  a Core Service providing 100 Mb/s download and 20 Mb/s upload speeds; and  an Ultrafast Service providing 1Gb/s download and 200Mb/s upload speeds. In order to count a premises as covered by the subsidised FTTP network, the provider needs to be able to meet a request for a new core or ultrafast service within specified time limits; it is not necessary for premises to be actually supplied with the core or ultrafast service to count as covered.

The provider must provide a core wholesale service, providing connectivity between the customer premises and a handout point (the demarcation point specified in their reference offer) meeting or exceeding the following performance characteristics:  download speeds of at least 100 Mb/s and an upload speed of 20Mb/s achievable for at least 99.95% of each calendar month between the customer premises and the demarcation point;  packet loss between the consumer premises equipment and the demarcation point not exceeding 0.1%; and  latency between the consumer premises equipment and the demarcation point not exceeding 50ms for at least 99.95% of each calendar month. In addition, the provider must offer an ultrafast wholesale service with a download speed of 1Gb/s and an upload speed of 200Mb/s. This has the same availability, packet loss and latency requirements as the core service.

Various data for evaluation of the provider’s compliance with its obligations are required quarterly. To summarise, the provider must provide quarterly reports to the Department including:
(i) a map of network roll-out and current covered premises;
(ii) an estimate of the proportion of all premises in the intervention zone that have been covered (taking into account the potential for new qualifying premises to have been built); (iii) the distribution of times between ordering and supply of core and ultrafast wholesale services over the infrastructure;

3 The Isle of Man Communications Bill 2018 requires the Communications Commission, in performing its duties, to have regard to ”the need to encourage investment and innovation in electronic communications networks and services, so as to contribute to the development of the Island’s economy” (Schedule 1, §3(b)), http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/bills/Bills/CommunicationsBill2018_HOK_Amd.pdf (iv) other data that might be reasonably required by the Department for evaluation of compliance with the contractual obligations that the provider has entered into. In particular, the provider must provide sufficient information to demonstrate that it would be able to provide wholesale customers with the core service at all covered premises within the required timeframes, otherwise it will not be permitted to count premises as covered.

The provider has targets to pass 20% of intervention premises in each zone each year. i.e. Year 1 – 20%, Year 2 – 40%, Year 3 – 60%, Year 4 – 80%, Year 5 – 99%.