Airband FAQs

Throughout the course of 2020, CDS ran a series of procurements to find broadband suppliers for five geographies within the CDS region. These procurements were conducted in line with UK and EU procurement regulations and subject to UK government oversight and independent external evaluation. In December 2020, Airband was awarded three of these contracts, based on CDS’s evaluation of the tender submissions received.

No. The contracts in question were let under the provisions of the National Broadband Scheme 2016 (NBS 2016), which provided State Aid clearance for the UK government to intervene in a commercial market, where there was deemed to have been “market failure” (i.e. the market said that they would not build to certain premises, because they were too expensive to reach and therefore not commercially viable without government subsidy). The NBS 2016 provisions were for a fixed term and were only available for contracts let before December 31st, 2020. It is therefore not possible to re-let these contracts in their current form. Even if it were possible to seek an alternative supplier, this would involve a re-procurement exercise, rather than simply allocating the subsidy and remainder of the contracts to another supplier, as this would be in contravention of UK procurement regulations.

The Superfast contracts were let on the basis of a planned four-year contract term (with the opportunity to extend under certain circumstances). It is in the nature of fibre builds that the first year or so is spent on design and survey work, with build starting in earnest in the second year. Notwithstanding a range of challenges faced by Airband throughout the first two years of the build phase (‘22/’23), the company had achieved considerable momentum by the second half of 2023. Unfortunately, the pressures on the company (and wider industry) were such that Airband was forced to pause its build in early 2024. Whilst CDS could have cancelled the contracts at this point, there would have been no option to re-procure and there would have been no further build. In not doing so, we have secured an additional ca. 8,500 premises that will now receive full fibre connections.

The superfast contracts are let on the basis of subsidy payments being made, retrospectively, based on the achievement of milestones. Therefore, Airband has only been paid for the work that it has completed. This will remain the case for the remaining contractual delivery.

Airband will be provided with more time to complete the reduced scope of build that has been agreed.

Airband formally contacted CDS in April 2024.

These CDS contracts were pathfinders for the UK government’s shift from subsidising improvements to the nations’ existing copper network to building new fibre networks. When announced, these contracts were described as being at the vanguard of government’s plans to provide a wholesale upgrade to connectivity nationally.

Is Airband unique in facing these difficulties?
No, as a comparatively new industry, the fibre sector has faced inevitable challenges as it evolved in a period of rapid growth across the UK. Along with most other alternative network providers, Airband responded to these challenges and constantly adapted but this came at a cost.

What are some of the challenges Airband faced?
An initial challenge in the first 18 months of the contracts was that of recruitment and retention of staff. Airband continued to successfully grow its team across critical roles, retaining and expanding a cohort of staff with significant experience from other parts of the industry. Overall, since winning the CDS contracts, Airband saw net staff growth across the company whilst retaining a high proportion of existing staff in a competitive labour-market.

Delivering fibre to rural and hard-to-reach communities, presents its own particular set of challenges. CDS contracts, targeted at premises with the lowest speeds, are almost exclusively comprised of rural build and these challenges have held a disproportionate significance for contract holders, as compared to commercial alt-nets operating in the region.

Whilst much of the national fibre deployment strategy is predicated on significant use of PIA (Passive Infrastructure Access) there is still a need for providers to erect some poles where none currently exist (or are at capacity). Experience over the last year shows that community sentiment to new poles can be difficult to predict, with ducted urban-fringe residential areas being particularly sensitive. Airband acknowledged that its initial approach to notifying communities was lacking and over time significantly improved its consultation through engagement with parish councils, running webinars and the establishment of a dedicated route for queries about new poles.

Where build moves from the highway onto private land, the ability to secure landowner approvals is critical to rural builds. Airband continuously revised the terms of its wayleave agreements and improved its engagement, especially to explain the consequences of a single landowner’s refusal to the wider community.

Resolving the above issues are all vital even before a provider can begin to physically build, at which point they need to address the usual expected and planned-for challenges of tree cutting, bad weather in the winter, critical tourist routes in the summer and ongoing recurrences of COVID.

Ultimately, these and other challenges have slowed delivery. This has resulted in Airband now having to take difficult decisions about the focus of the company in an environment where, at the same time, build costs have escalated exponentially in parallel with the costs of borrowing required to finance this build.

Does Airband have sub-contractors working for it?
Yes. Significant progress was also made in the establishment of mature supply-chain relationships with sub-contractors. Airband reduced the number of smaller sub-contractors and moved to working with larger experienced contractors, allowing them to provide these with consistent fluid work over the short to medium-term. This approach also had a positive impact on access to purchase of critical equipment and materials (such as connector blocks, cabinet fixings and backhaul routers) which is an area where there have been some shortages in recent years, leading to smaller suppliers losing out to larger operators.

Has Airband had to compete with other providers servicing the same communities?
Yes. The proliferation of fibre builds across the region has increasingly resulted in more than one fibre provider needing to work on (and close) roads in any given rural parish. Whilst invariably building fibre to different parts of the parish, providers are often denied access to the roads they need to work on because these are simultaneously providing the diversion route for another provider’s road closures. Airband and partners in the region’s highways teams have collaborated to develop agile solutions to this congestion, involving co-location of works, night-working and advanced planning. These road closure/Traffic management permits were therefore dependant on working around other sectors/utility companies who also need to access the highway networks in the region and the delays this can result in.

Airband will face a considerable loss of subsidy for its inability to fully complete the contracts, based on the payments it would have received had it completed all build.

To date, Airband has delivered 18,974 premises under the superfast contracts in the CDS region. The new agreement will see them building a further 8,377 giving a final build tally of 27,171 premises with 28,322 requiring alternative solutions.

Even presuming CDS had access to additional funds to expand the subsidy available, there are legal constraints on the extent to which the size of a contract can be expanded.

No, this change to Airband’s contract with CDS only concerns the company’s infrastructure build and will not affect you if you are an existing customer or someone considering taking a service with Airband.

Correct. Unfortunately, Airband’s rollout of fibre for CDS has had to be scaled back as Airband has told CDS they are unable to provide coverage in all areas set out in the original contracts. Since Airband’s restructure in April, the company has decided to focus on increasing the number of customers on its existing networks rather than further expanding its network.

You can find information on communities which will still be built as part of Airband’s CDS contract here.

Communities which will no longer be included in the rollout can be found here.

Whilst there are a number of factors involved, broadly the clusters which will now go ahead would have been the next to be built as they are physically close to existing build and some preparatory work has already been carried out.

No. Airband has rationalised its staffing levels, mostly reducing its build teams as the company slows the growth of its network and focusses on attracting more customers onto the parts of the network it has built.

Airband is scheduled to start preparatory engineering work to deliver access to 8,337 homes and businesses for CDS in January 2025 and work is expected to continue until autumn 2027.

As it currently stands, if you’re not in one of the areas where Airband will continue to deliver over the next couple of years then it is unlikely that Airband will connect you. However, were the market position to stabilise in the coming months, then Airband may make the decision to extend its network commercially. Additionally, the existing network might provide opportunities for other providers to extend out, using vouchers, other subsidy or simply commercially.

Additionally, the network has been subsidised (point of presence) would remain open access and could be leveraged by other alternative network providers to reach additional communities; therefore there may be opportunities for other providers to extend out, using vouchers, other subsidy or simply build to areas commercially.

We are yet to receive Airband’s detailed delivery schedule for the communities they will serve over the next couple of years. This information will be provided on the CDS website and communicated to parishes once available.

We have been in lengthy discussions with Airband to develop this delivery programme to 8,337 premises. It is achievable and we expect it to be delivered on time. The next stage will be to finalise the detailed build plans and secure compliance approvals from BDUK.

The Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme offers residents and businesses, within a community, vouchers of up to £4,500 per premise. The scheme requires a willing internet service provider to apply to the scheme and connect the premises. CDS is in negotiation with BDUK to make premises which will no longer be built to under the CDS/Airband contracts eligible for vouchers again as soon as possible.

Properties in North and West Devon 

Openreach has been awarded a BDUK contract to deliver gigabit capable broadband to homes and businesses in North and West Devon as part of a “cross regional” contract along with North West, Mid and South East Wales. It is intended to cover 42,200 premises with an indicative value of £139.1 million.

Properties in Mid/East Devon & West Somerset, South Devon and North Somerset  

Building Digital UK (BDUK) has reported that Mid/East and South Devon and North and West Somerset are listed for inclusion in a proposed cross-regional contract including North and South West Wales. The estimated contract award date is November 2024.

Properties in South Somerset  

Wessex Internet has been awarded a BDUK contract to deliver gigabit capable broadband to 21,400 homes and businesses in rural areas of South Somerset, South and West Dorset. It is intended to cover 21,400 homes and businesses with an indicative value of £33.5 million.

That is the publicly available position as things stand. CDS is seeking further information from BDUK. We wish to clarify the scale, scope and final numbers as these proposals relate to homes and businesses in Devon and Somerset, including the estimated number of “left behind” premises and any plans to provide them with gigabit capable broadband.

Potentially they could be included in Government’s Project Gigabit.
However they cannot be included in current Project Gigabit contracts (described above) because there are limits to how many premises can be added into live procurements or signed contracts – it would therefore need to be an additional procurement. CDS is currently discussing options with BDUK.

Airband retains a core build team (although significantly scaled back from 2023 levels). The majority of the actual build will be undertaken by sub-contractors who have the capacity to undertake the work and with whom Airband has long-standing relationships.

Despite having to scale back its contract agreements with Airband, CDS remains committed to finding alternative delivery solutions for those communities which were due to receive fibre broadband.