The Ceredigion County Council (CCC) in Wales has published a list of rural communities that they say “could soon” gain access to a gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP connection after a number of suppliers, backed by government voucher schemes, proposed tentative plans to deploy across them.
We say tentative because the council doesn’t appear to be sure about whether or not any of the following communities, said to reflect “hundreds of homes and businesses” across Ceredigion, will actually receive the stated connectivity. Apparently, they were all identified as part of the UK government’s new Broadband Upgrade Fund (BUF) pilot via the Building Digital UK (BDUK) team, which took place last year (here).
Just to recap. The BUF was essentially a new twist on the existing rural gigabit voucher scheme, which normally offers vouchers worth up to £1,500 for homes or £3,000 for businesses to help them get a gigabit-capable broadband service installed. But the pilot made it possible for individuals and communities to express an interest in a voucher, which were visible to suppliers and they in turn could then express an interest in deploying (like a dating site, for vouchers).
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Ceredigion was one of the counties involved in this pilot and as a result a number of rural communities were identified by private suppliers for developing potential schemes, with work being due to get “underway in the coming months to further explore and plan developments” in those areas.
Proposed Ceredigion Communities for Upgrade
Llanrhystud, Llanon, Cross Inn, Pennant, Cilcennin, Bethania, Penuwch, Llanwnnen, Llanybydder, Cwrt-Newydd, Tan y Groes, Penrhiw-pal, Ffostrasol, Beulah, Sarnau, Tresaith, Cefn Llwyd, Rhos y Garth, Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, Ystumtuen, Aber Ffrwd, Cwmrheidol, Pontarfynach, Ponterwyd, Pontrhydfendigaid, Goginan, Bow Street, Tal y Bont, Clarach, Borth, Tre’r Ddol and Eglwys Fach.
For each community project area, a Community Co-ordinator is said to have been identified to help facilitate proposals between the private suppliers and local community (you can find out who these are by emailing digidol@ceredigion.gov.uk). Residents and businesses in neighbouring communities can also be included if there is enough demand and are encouraged to enquire with the local co-ordinators.
Councillor Clive Davies, Digital Champion for CCC, said:
“Full fibre or fibre to the premises is more reliable and resilient with consistent speeds. With large lengths of copper cable ceasing to be used over the coming years it is important that as many people and businesses in Ceredigion take up this opportunity. Fibre provides future proofing, capable of meeting growing data needs from new technologies as well as home working and schooling demands.
It is important to note that residents and business in these areas have to be proactive to engage with their local co-ordinators and register their interest in the schemes proposed. The Council cannot recommend or support individual projects from private suppliers, but our officers can ensure you are put in touch with the local Community Co-ordinators”.
The council states that eligible properties within project areas can be upgraded by suppliers through the use of the Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme, which is being supported by additional funding from the Welsh Government ‘Top Up’ Fund. “This means that eligible residential properties and business properties can claim up to £3,000 and £7,000 respectively for the cost of upgrading their current broadband connection,” said the council.
One slight problem with this is that the Government’s voucher scheme is currently stuck in somewhat of a holding pattern because it is due to expire at the end of March 2021. A follow-on scheme – part of the Government’s £5bn UK Gigabit Broadband Programme – is planned to replace it (here), but we are still awaiting the final details of that and in the meantime a lot of suppliers have pressed pause on the acceptance of new projects.
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There is no reason these premises cannot be put under contract so supplier contributions can be extracted, clawback earned and avoid leaving gaps in the service delivered. This can be done using the monies owed.
Except for the fact that rural voucher schemes are generally intended to be targeted at the hardest to reach areas, where alternative general delivery programmes (SFBB etc.) will not go or are not expected to cover for some years. Vouchers also come attached to a delivery contract to ensure that public funding is not paid out to a non-existent network.
Under B-USO BT can reclaim £3000 plus back in costs per premise. I think Northern Ireland, the hardest to reach area is showing there is no hardest to reach area.
Vouchers, numerically are doing very little.
The USO is a radically different tool and isn’t trying to foster gigabit-capable connectivity like vouchers, it’s only 10Mbps+ and has delivered very little so far. Let’s not confuse these things and try to keep on-topic with the article, please.
The allowance can be up to £3,000 and 10 Mbps is a minimum with no designed maximum. With BT as designated B-USO provider you would not want vouchers to create holes in service which become more expensive to fill.
Almost sounds like Ceredigion Council is involved in the process, whereas in reality it is all being setup and managed by the Community Coordinators who in the main volunteered as part of the Broadband Upgrade Fund. They haven’t been “identified” by Ceredigion Council and have been begging for some kind of statement or support in getting the message out to residents since August. We have had the the Council’s Digital Officer offering support and coordination but up until now there has been no assistance offered in raising the profile of the scheme to digitally disadvantaged residents.
I completed some communication, have had corre from a supplier who I originally chose, but I have no idea who the local coordinator is. I am in the dark as to what happens next.
As per above, most of the work seems to have been done by the suppliers and community coordinators, although I’m glad to finally see some publicity from Ceredigion CC.
The majority of this work is on https://www.facebook.com/groups/ceredigionbroadbandupgradefund – please visit to see which supplier(s) are active in your area, and then register your interest! A key date is 31st March – at least one of the main suppliers is offering free installation for anyone registering interest before this date, and we also need so many registrations in a particular area to move each project forward.
What if we are not on Facebook? I live in one of the villages listed and would like to register my interest. I contacted the Ceredigion CC contact, but have had no reply. I must say that the publicity on this has been poor.