Oxera has been appointed by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) to conduct an independent evaluation of the UK’s broadband state aid measure.
 
The study will be one of the first ex post evaluations in the field of state aid, evaluating the National Broadband Scheme as implemented to date.
 
The aims of the evaluation are twofold:

• to verify the compliance of the scheme as implemented to date with the decision to approve the aid and with the European Commission’s Broadband Guidelines;
• to understand whether the National Broadband Scheme has delivered its primary objectives and assess the impact of the scheme on markets and competition.

The evaluation will be conducted in line with the European Commission’s state aid evaluation methodology, published earlier this year.
 
The final report will be used to support the re-notification of the scheme in 2015.