UPD Fibre Optic ISP Hyperoptic UK Joins BDUK Broadband Voucher Scheme

Hyperoptic, which specialises in offering “hyper-sonic” fibre optic (FTTH/B) broadband internet speeds of 1000Mbps (Megabits) to high-rise buildings and apartment blocks around UK cities (e.g. London), has confirmed that it too has become a registered partner of the Connection Vouchers Scheme.

As stated earlier the scheme (full details), which is a part of the government’s £150m Urban Broadband Fund (UBF), will eventually offer grants worth up to £3,000 to help businesses in 22 UK cities install a superfast broadband connection. But initially the vouchers are only being trialled in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Manchester/Salford.

Dana Tobak, MD of Hyperoptic, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“Thousands of small and medium sized businesses across the UK currently suffer from being unable to access adequate broadband speeds. Instead, they are languishing in the slow lane with broadband which claims to be ‘superfast’ but is actually anything but. This can have a major impact on business performance, with unreliable speeds directly hindering their growth.

Hyperoptic already offers ground-breaking fibre broadband technology to businesses in London. We are involved in the UBF to support the Government to break down barriers to true hyperfast broadband in other UK cities, and in doing so, enable small businesses to fast track their business growth. By providing fast, efficient and affordable services we are confident that we will contribute to UBF’s long-term success on a national level.”

The ISP intends to support the scheme by offering a 100Mbps capable Leased Line product from as little as £250 per month. However it should be noted that the ISP doesn’t mention vital aspects like SLA, contention, guaranteed speeds or fix times and their website is currently sparse on detail.

The government boldly predicts that up to £90 million worth of vouchers will be issued over the total lifetime of the scheme.

UPDATE 6th August 2013

Hyperoptic informs us that their business product comes with 24/7 customer support, an industry standard Service Level Agreement, a pledge to resolve issues within 6 hours and a 1:1 contention (a 1:5 contention also exists for the cheaper products).