Project Gigabit

Rating: Compared to financial year 24/25 Q4, the NISTA/SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating at 25/26 Q4 remained at AMBER. UK Gigabit coverage reached 90.76% in June 2026, according to ThinkBroadband. The programme is progressing largely to plan but there are some concerns over supplier access to finance and supply chain risks which may impact delivery.

Schedule: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's end-date at 25/26-Q4 has been extended to 31/12/2032. This is to reflect a revised delivery timeline.

Cost: Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4 of £5,404m, the project’s departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 decreased to £4,831m. This is primarily due to the following factors, updated Open Market Review has fed into updated Central Delivery Forecast Model.

Source: NISTA Major Projects Annual Report 2025-26 (data)

Rating: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 24/25-Q4 remained at AMBER. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ UK Gigabit coverage reached 87.1% in March 2025, according to Thinkbroadband, meaning the key Project Gigabit Programme target of 85% coverage by the end of 2025 has been met. The programme is progressing largely to plan but there are some concerns over supplier access to finance and supply chain risks that may impact delivery.

Schedule: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's end-date at 24/25-Q4 remained at 31/12/2030. This is primarily due to the following factors The government’s target at Q4 2024/25 was for next-generation, gigabit broadband to be available to 85% of the UK by 2025 and nationwide by 2030.

Cost: Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 24/25-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at 5404. This is primarily due to the following factors‚ Answer - There is no visibility to support the updated amounts submitted for year 2033 which should have remained in line with Q4 23/24 submission. This seems to be consistent with an error in submission as we are not expecting RDEL spend to drop between both submissions. We are however expecting RDEL spend to be updated once we have more clarity on the RDEL envelope approved following Spending Review discussions and therefore will be updated in future returns.

Source: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 (data)

Rating: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the Infrastructure Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 23/24-Q4 remained at Amber. This is primarily due to the following factors. The Infrastructure and Project Authority's Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 23/24-Q4 is Amber, based on the most recent review undertaken in March 2024._x000D_ _x000D_ The review gave three recommendations. These were to develop a plan to complete remaining gigabit coverage, to develop the data strategy for both internal and external audiences, and to develop competencies for key team members including Local Delivery Leads and Contract Managers. Action is under way on each of these.

Schedule: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the project's end-date at 23/24-Q4 remained schedule to finish on 2030-12-31. This is primarily due to the following factors. We expect all identified areas of the UK to be under a GIS contract or within the scope of a procurement by the end of 2024. This will be complemented by continued delivery through vouchers, including extension of vouchers to urban areas. The superfast programme will continue to deliver gigabit capable coverage until scheduled completion in 2028.

Cost: Compared to financial year 22/23-Q4, the project's departmental-agree Whole Life Cost at 23/24-Q4 increased from 5112m. to 5404m. This is primarily due to the following factors. based on updated delivery plans including the re-evaluation of assumptions including cost per premises and the timing of delivery. The result of these changes has still produced a forecast saving, with capital funding across the life of Project Gigabit being under 5bn.

Source: IPA Annual Report 2023-24 (data)