Wednesday 15 November 2017

Businesses Encouraged to Apply for Gigabit Broadband Grants

Businesses in four areas of the country are being encouraged by the government to apply for grants of up to £3000 to get gigabit broadband installed as part of a £2 million trial.

Suppliers will be offering vouchers worth between £500 and £3000 each to local businesses which can then be used to pay for the installation of gigabit speed connections. The aim of the pilots is to encourage the market to extend full fibre infrastructure in the UK by increasing demand and reducing the cost to customers.

Four areas of the UK have been selected to test the market conditions and infrastructure conditions. If successful the programme will be rolled out across the country.  The areas are:
  • Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire
  • Bristol, with Bath and North East Somerset
  • Coventry and Warwickshire
  • West Yorkshire Combined Authority (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield and York)
The many benefits of a full fibre gigabit connection include:
  • allowing businesses to upload and download massive files in a matter of seconds
  • enabling widespread use of video conferencing throughout an organisation
  • providing an unprecedented level of reliability whilst greatly enhancing resilience
  • future proofing - making sure that businesses have the technology in place to deal with the ever-increasing demands for internet speed and connectivity
  • allowing businesses in remote communities to compete on a technologically level playing field with those companies based in major cities who may already have full fibre connectivity
For more information on the scheme, visit https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/

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