Government voucher scheme for SMEs to connect to full fibre broadband

The government is providing thousands of businesses across Kent voucher schemes to assist with the cost of connecting to full fibre broadband.

The scheme also includes an option for businesses to group together to further boost the subsidiary of installation costs.

Technical director of Kent-based Orbital Internet Group, Ben Doherty said: “If the internet is slowing down your staff, then it is slowing down your business.

“This scheme provides an opportunity that otherwise might be financially unachievable for SMEs to increase their speed.

“The larger speeds coupled with reliability will allow these businesses to increase efficiencies by improving the time it takes to complete simple tasks.”

An investment of over £1 million has been made to unbundle Kent telephone exchanges with a further deployment of large scale wireless networks as backup routes.

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the Nationwide Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme earlier this year, with an allocated funding of £67 million to boost digital infrastructure across small or medium sized businesses.

The UK has slipped from 31st to 35th in the global broadband league tables as shown by data from M-Lab and compiled by Cable.

It is hoped the scheme will bring faster and more reliable broadband connections across the country. With the digital age, full fibre broadband is an essential part of Britain's digital infrastructure, especially for greater economic growth.

The voucher scheme is one part of the government's ambitious plan to connect 15 million premises to full fibre broadband by 2025 with a target to reach full fibre coverage to all of UK by 2033.

Mr Doherty added: “Superfast and Ultrafast Internet is an invaluable asset to any business and is one area where investing in a quality high speed connection could make all the difference."

Since last year, the average speeds in the UK have risen and at 18.5Mbps, they sit above the global average however are still in the bottom third of the EU member states.