Virgin Media Business Offers GBP1,000 Broadband Installation Discount

Cable operator Virgin Media Business (VMB) has responded to the suspension of the Government’s Connection Voucher scheme by offering to cover up to £1,000 of the installation cost(s) for new business broadband customers.

The Connection Voucher scheme, which gifted grants worth up to £3,000 to help smaller businesses around 50 UK cities to get a superfast broadband (30Mbps+) service installed, ran out of funding earlier this month (here) and there have been no signs of its revival.

Meanwhile some ISPs, such as CityFibre and the ITS Technology Group, have been launching their own installation discounts and now VMB have joined them. Admittedly £1,000 is a smaller discount than others have been offering, although Virgin claims that almost all (86%) of the installations that were completed under the Government’s programme costed less than £1,000.

Mike Smith, Director of Small Business at VMB, said:

“We’ve connected thousands of small businesses with the support of the Super Connected Cities voucher scheme which was a huge success to help businesses get online. Given the extraordinary take-up among businesses and healthy competition between hundreds of connectivity suppliers, we strongly encourage the Government to reintroduce the scheme.

In the meantime, we’re pleased to launch this exclusive trial for the UK’s small businesses to help them get online and thrive with the fastest available broadband. We know one of the biggest challenges facing small businesses is upfront costs, including for the likes of broadband.”

Apparently the trial of this scheme is set to run until the end of this year, although any firms that exist outside of VMB’s primary urban coverage footprint are likely to face a significantly more expensive installation.