What broadband tenders are available now, and heading into 2021?

Broadband tenders are the best way to secure contracts as a broadband provider, or as a broadband infrastructure supplier. And tendering opportunities in broadband have seen a sustained increase throughout 2020! If you’re not accessing broadband tenders for business growth, now is a good time to start, as large-scale opportunities rise. We’ll take a look at the current opportunities and advise on how your business could be tendering more effectively.

How have broadband services escalated in 2020?

As 2020 draws to a close, we’re asking, how has this year changed the game for broadband tenders? And what’s the best tendering strategy to adopt going forward into 2021?

The 2020 Budget statement confirmed the UK government would invest £5 billion in rolling out full-fibre broadband across the country. Even the most rural areas are included in this plan, which aims to reach all homes and business, countrywide. This is part of the government’s ambitious commitment to delivering nationwide gigabit-capable broadband by 2025.

Full fibre systems are needed to produce gigabit-capable connections, which are 40 times faster than standard superfast broadband. A gigabit connection has an average download speed over 1Gbps. The infrastructure for full-fibre installation can be an expensive process. It often requires digging trenches to lay full-fibre cables to the doorsteps of homes and businesses. It’s therefore an enormous project to deliver nationwide, requiring widespread schemes and well-oiled frameworks.

Has this worked so far?

Despite the challenges, high-speed broadband has been rolled out rapidly, right across the UK, throughout 2020. Ofcom reported on 10^th September 2020 that 14% of UK homes were now able to access full-fibre, gigabit-capable services. (That’s over 14 million homes, by the way!) This marks an increase of 670,000 (2%) homes since the start of 2020. In June 2020, Salisbury became the first entire city in the UK to gain access to Openreach’s full fibre technology.

This increased roll-out is due to both the expansion of existing broadband networks and companies building entirely new fibre networks. You can access new broadband tendering opportunities when you sign up to Technology Tenders. (We’ll do the manual searching and send broadband tenders straight to your inbox, so you don’t have to. Get in touch for a free demo, to see the current opportunities available.)

Broadband in 2021: A vision for the future.

Nationwide access to gigabit-capable broadband will allow all internet users to achieve more in work and leisure, faster than ever. But the vision for future broadband goes deeper than just stronger internet connections and improving the UK’s digital economy. It also has the power to revolutionise hard-to-reach communities. Investing in next-generation broadband makes rural communities, previously thought to be cut off and disconnected, more attractive places to live. People in the UK will gain more freedom and flexibility over where they can live and work. This also brings economic growth to new areas – a win-win.

A country-wide gigabit broadband network will also be essential in supporting the UK economy’s post-Brexit and post-Covid-19 recovery. Government investments in super-fast nationwide broadband were set out last year, before the pandemic. However, the drastic and unforeseen changes to the way society operates in 2020 have compounded this need for faster broadband. With an increase of remote working, domestic Wi-Fi use has skyrocketed. As people stayed at home and worked at home throughout 2020, internet service providers removed limits on broadband data. This, in turn, caused an unprecedented strain on data centres across the world. Improved broadband has become a necessity for many jobs – and recovering the economy!

Network major CityFibre recently announced a three-year recruitment and training programme to upgrade digital infrastructure, providing up to 10,000 jobs. Steve Holliday, the chairman at CityFibre, talked about the importance of this:

In the wake of Coronavirus, delivering the government’s target of full fibre nationwide by 2025 could not be more important. Of all the infrastructure projects and industrial policies under consideration, full fibre will have the biggest impact…It will help ensure that the UK not only recovers economically, but that it swiftly transitions to a greener, smarter and fairer economy in which to thrive.

What other programmes are currently in place for broadband services?

Clearly, broadband services will be paramount in the future economy. So, the government currently has a range of programmes to increase broadband speeds and access for homes and businesses. It is currently focusing on the following 3 goals:

• Widespread coverage – Investing to provide superfast broadband coverage to as many premises as possible beyond the 95% level achieved in December 2017.
• Rural connectivity – Providing gigabit-capable broadband to rural communities in the UK through its Rural Gigabit Connectivity Programme, funded until March 2021.
• Private investment – Stimulating private investment in gigabit-capable connections through its UK Fibre programme, funded until March 2021 

These goals will be achieved through a range of schemes designed to encourage both customers and broadband service providers. This include the following nationwide initiatives:

The Broadband Universal Service.

This initiative was launched by Ofcom in March 2020. It gives every home and business in the UK the legal right to request a decent, affordable broadband connection. Any broadband service that is unable to deliver 10Mbps download or 1Mbps upload speeds is deemed as ineffective. Homes and businesses can request a connection through this scheme if they:

• have no access to existing decent broadband; and
• are not covered by a public broadband scheme offered by the UK and devolved governments in the next 12 months. (See below for details.)

They will then be given a broadband service that is deemed ‘decent’ from a provider designated by Ofcom.

Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Another government strategy for increasing broadband is the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. This is a UK-wide, supplier-led scheme, offering vouchers towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband. It is designed to encourage broadband service providers to build full-fibre networks in certain areas. This scheme applies where the cost for broadband infrastructure is too high for commercial operators to cover.

Over 250,000 homes and businesses are eligible for this funding. The scheme is offered to the following groups:

• Residents –Residents can access a Superfast scheme in their area. They may also be eligible for vouchers up to £1,500 for residential premises to support the cost of gigabit-capable broadband as part of a group scheme, such as:
• Communities – Rural communities can improve their broadband connectivity by creating group schemes with broadband suppliers. Vouchers can be used to support the cost of installation in community-led broadband projects.
• Small to medium-sized businesses(SMEs) – SMEs may also be eligible for vouchers worth up to £3,500. This can support the cost of gigabit-capable broadband direct to their office or work building.

This voucher scheme is part of an ongoing £1bn government-funding commitment which will run until the end of 2021. Seventeen local councils have also provided £22.2m worth of funding to boost the values of the vouchers in their areas.

These voucher schemes have already seen success across the UK:

• 500,000 premises across the UK have gained gigabit-capable broadband since summer 2018.
• Nearly 45,000 gigabit broadband vouchers have been issued, totalling a worth of more than £90m.
• Rural communities in Wales saw the value of their vouchers double in June.
• The Scottish Government teamed up with the UK Government to combine their funding for the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS). This scheme offers up to £8,500 for SMEs and up to £6,500 for homes.
• £70m worth of vouchers are currently on offer to improve connectivity for companies and residents in rural towns and villages.

With funding rolling out throughout 2021, these ongoing investments will increase broadband tender opportunities over the next year. In addition to this, funding for private sector stimulation until March 2021 will diversify the available opportunities.

Are you searching for relevant broadband tenders?

Are you a broadband provider or supplier of broadband services, searching for tendering opportunities? Technology Tenders can save you time! We’ll source tendering opportunities so you can focus on running your business, especially in the current climate. During a hectic time for broadband tenders, an effective tendering portal is the perfect addition to your business growth strategy.

We source technology sector tenders on a daily basis from thousands of buyers, across the UK. But what makes Technology Tenders different?

1. We use manual tracking!

On other portals, Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes are used to identify tenders. A broadband tender, in particular, may be tagged with several different CPV codes. For instance, a tender for community broadband services could be tagged with both of the following CPV codes:

• 32000000-3 – Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment
• 72000000-5 – IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support.

This coding system can often be ambiguous – and lead to missed opportunities. And did you know, over a third of live tenders are tagged with incorrect CPV codes? A broadband tender could be mistakenly tagged with a CPV code for construction infrastructure, for example. This results in companies struggling to find work to boost their businesses, as open opportunities are missed.

Instead of using CPV codes, our Opportunity Trackers manually tag the contracts they find to ensure that they reach the right businesses. Using this streamlined method, Technology Tenders takes the headache out of tendering. You can filter all live tenders using keywords, budget, industry and location to make sure you’re finding all relevant opportunities. On our portal, you’ll find the aforementioned tender by simply filtering for ‘broadband’. Simple.

2. We host all kinds of tenders – including exclusive opportunities.

Broadband tenders can take on various forms. Technology Tenders sources opportunities for a range of services. You’ll find contracts for broadband tenders that are:

• Single supplier contracts;
• Part of a framework agreement, or;
• On a Dynamic Purchasing System register.

We also host private sector and exclusive opportunities that aren’t available on any other portals.

Below are some previous broadband tenders sourced on our portal:

Superfast 3 for Cornwall – Inclusive Growth

Cornwall Council- South West- Budget: £5,350,000

25-09-2020

Preliminary Market Consultation for Broadband & Telecoms for Schools

Saint Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust- East Midlands- Budget: £74,835,000

24-07-2020

Supply of Telephone & Broadband Lines, & VoIP Telephony

Sussex Housing Association Limited – South East- Budget: £108,000

31-07-2020

Broadband Services — Bay Education Trust

Bay Education Trust- Wales- Budget: £2,000,000

01-05-2020

Northern Lincolnshire Broadband Phase 3

North Lincolnshire Council- East Midlands- Budget: £1,500,000

14-05-2020

3. We offer tender writing support.

Can you ensure you’ll provide the perfect response when you find a broadband tender that’s right for your company? The expert bid writers at Hudson Succeed can support you at every stage of your broadband tender. They’ll assist with any questions about the process, from passing the PQQ to finalising your tender response.

Our bid writers have an 87% success rate and offer exceptional tendering support through four services:

• Tender Writing.

Simply send the tender specification to our bid writers, and they will write the broadband tender response for you. They’ll even submit the bid on your behalf.

• The Tender Improvement package.

Our bid writers will assess your previous tender responses and work with you to develop improved content.

• Tender Mentor.

The team will analyse your content and check for any errors before you submit your tender response.

• The Tender Ready programme.

A 4-week programme consisting of creating and branding your corporate literature and helping you to identify opportunities.

Contact the team today for further guidance on our bid writing services.

4. We’ll send you bulletins containing any new broadband tenders.

To make tendering even easier, we’ll send you a daily bulletin in addition to unlimited access to the portal. This ensures that you never miss an opportunity.

5. You’ll have a dedicated Account Manager.

Your Account Manager will handle any queries you have about the portal and answer tendering-related questions.

Book a free, live demo to gain further insight into our services and see which opportunities can benefit your business.

On Technology Tenders, we post contracts for:

• Broadband services;
• IT support;
• IT recruitment;
• Maintenance;
• Consultancy;
• Website development;
• Software development;
• Network services;
• Cybersecurity;
• Security systems;
• and Hardware.

This is just a few categories in which we source tenders – we add new opportunities to our portal every day. The scope of buyers for whom you could deliver work is always expanding.

Now is the time for Technology Tenders – unlock your company’s potential.