Business ISP Glide Details Use of 1100 Gigabit Broadband Vouchers

Business broadband ISP Glide has revealed that they’ve so far issued 1,100 vouchers under the UK Government’s £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which they claim has helped to save local businesses an estimated £2,750,000 in getting a new connection installed and increasing their access speeds ninefold.

The GBVS provides grants worth up to £2,500 a pop to businesses in order to help them get a new 1000Mbps+ capable connection installed (leased lines, FTTP etc.), while residents are offered up to £500. The scheme is more business orientated and thus the only way for residents to benefit is as part of a local community group (i.e. up to 10 homes can participate for every 1 SME).

So far Glide says that, of the 1,100 applications they themselves have received, some 18% of the vouchers were issued to businesses in Coventry alone – meaning 225 businesses in the area are now supported with “full fibre” connectivity that “might otherwise have struggled to make this commercially viable.”

James Warner, Glide MD, said:

“The unprecedented take-up of the Voucher Scheme has resulted in the predicted end-date being brought forward to March 2020, rather than the previously expected end date of 2021. Local businesses therefore need to be careful they don’t miss out on securing funding to invest in ultrafast and reliable connectivity.

We know how integral a good internet connection is to a business, and we have a good track record of delivering it. We set up the gigabit knowledge hub, to answer any questions any potential businesses may have before they begin the claiming process.”

The Top Regions to Benefit from GBVS (Glide’s Vouchers)
Coventry and Warwickshire (225)
Northamptonshire (190)
Berkshire and Hampshire (120)
Greater Birmingham (115)
London (85)
Bath and North East Somerset (76)
Leicestershire (70)
Southamptonshire Southampton and Hampshire (70)
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire (60)
Essex (45)
Derbyshire and Nottingham (40)

As ISPreview.co.uk reported a couple of months back (here), just £20.4m of public funding remains to be consumed by eligible users under the scheme and hence the increased likelihood of it closing a year earlier than expected in March 2020 due to extremely high demand. As yet no official decision has been taken on whether to extend the scheme with additional funding and the looming General Election adds another unknown.

On the other hand those in rural areas can also take advantage of the much newer £200m Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) scheme (here), which uses a similar approach but offers up to £3,500 for small businesses and up to £1,500 for residents. Unlike GBVS, the RCG scheme makes it easier for home owners to secure a voucher and thus aggregate them for community builds.