Business broadband voucher trial launched by UK Govt
Business broadband voucher trial launched by UK Govt
A two-month market trial of the Connection Vouchers Scheme, has been launched by The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to assist small firms in receiving fast broadband services.
The scheme will first run in five cities – Belfast, Edinburgh, Manchester, Salford and Cardiff – as those locations have already met the DCMS’s list of criteria about having a “demand simulation" plan set up. This means that the cities have already told small businesses about the benefits of superfast broadband, and also have arranged a choice of suppliers in the area.
Companies will be able to apply for the vouchers of £250 and £3,000 in order to get connected, but they will then be required to pay the line rental themselves. In order to qualify for the superfast broadband voucher scheme, businesses must have a turnover of less than £40 million and have less than 250 members of staff.
They must also be ready to sign up for a service that delivers 30Mbps or more for at least six months. The final criteria to qualify for the vouchers is that businesses must not have received any grants adding up to over £120,000 over the last three years. If social enterprises or community groups meet the criteria then they may also apply for the vouchers, Tech Radar reported.
The test is being run to work out the likely take-up of the broadband voucher scheme and to iron out any problems, or make any improvements before the scheme is rolled out nationwide, a spokesman for DCMS told the publication.
The funding for the vouchers comes from the £150 million Urban Broadband Fund that was created to support the development of a range of "super-connected" cities across the country. While £2.25 million is being made available for the market test, £90 million has been made available by DCMS for the nationwide implementation of the voucher scheme.
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