London broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which is currently building a 3Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover a good chunk of the UK’s capital city, has launched a new “COVID-19 recovery” package that will give those on “welfare benefits” an unlimited 10Mbps (symmetric) connection at just £10 per month for 12-months.
The provider hopes that this special package, which is available immediately until end of July 2021, will enable London’s residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and claiming welfare benefits to recover from the economic downturn and find new job or training opportunities.
Eligible households who wish to sign-up for the offer are advised to contact the ISP on 0808 196 6206 and provide the necessary documents. At the end of the 1-year contract, households can choose to continue their contract (with the same cost and speed), upgrade to a faster speed or cancel the service altogether by returning their router.
All customers signing up to the Essential 10Mbps broadband package for 12 months must email evidence of their benefit payment to covidhelp@communityfibre.co.uk – this can be any of the following documents:
· Universal Credit
Housing Benefit
Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)· Care Leavers support
Personal Independence Payment
We don’t consider this service to be quite the same as the social tariffs being offered by other providers (e.g. BT, Virgin Media, KCOM etc.) as it only seems to be available for the next couple of months, rather than as a permanent fixture.
Graeme Oxby, CEO of Community Fibre, said:
“Our mission is to bring better internet to all Londoners and we always look for opportunities to give back to the communities we serve. We recognise that many have lost their job because of the COVID-19 pandemic and may not be able to afford a good internet connection to secure their next job opportunity.
In the past year, we have all learned how critical it is to have access to a quality, reliable broadband in order to work, find a job, acquire new skills and more. Unlike other packages available on the market, our COVID-19 recovery package capitalises on the advantage of the 100% full fibre network to deliver a full 10Mbps broadband service as promised at an affordable price to support the community.
It was a natural move for us to help further bridge the digital divide and enable Londoners in need to get back into the job market.”
At present the operator’s network is already available to 200,000 premises across parts of Barnet, Brent, Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Westminster. CF’s ambition is to reach 1 million premises by the end of 2023.
Regular customers of the service can currently take an unlimited 50Mbps package for just £20 per month for the first 24 months of service (£25 thereafter), while 300Mbps costs £25 per month (£29.50 thereafter), 800Mbps costs £35 per month (£40 thereafter), 1Gbps costs £49 per month (£54 thereafter) and their top 3Gbps tier is £99 per month (£110 thereafter).
3Gbps for £99!? Why can’t they come to my part of the country? I’d pay £999 for that!)
Lol you got that right 😀
Sign me up
Community Fibre 3Gbps down and 3Gbps up – my goodness me!
Openreach Full Fibre 1Gbp down and 220Mbps up – not bad but need faster than that!
lol
I am very happy with my current new service G.fast 160/30 getting download throughput 151 and 27.8 up with UnchainedISP (supplier by wholesale TalkTalk Business)
Waiting for CF to install in my area, buying 3GBPS plan which is so cheap compare to other companies.
Community fibre does.
Oh well then no one else, heard hyperoptic might start doing higher than 1gbps to compete with community fibre but not 100% sure. Edit: Zzoom does 2gbps for £99 so i guess thats one company.
Most motherboard now come with 2.5Gbps ethernet lan port
don’t know how will 3Gbps will work on 2.5Gbps ethernet lan port?
You can just buy a 5GBPS ethernet PCIE CARD and that should be fine.
That seems incredibly unfair. 10mbps is so stingy. At least make it 30mb so people can stream 4k.
Failing that, offer 10mb/s for £5 and make it available to everyone. That package would be good for pensioners who most likely would be happy with 1080p streaming.
Hell 30Mbps would be “superfast”, can’t have that!
Yeah, i feel like 10mbps is very little should at least be over 20mbps so people can do things without lagging.
Isn’t that rather the point that this will allow for 1080 but not 4k?
The kids can stream film and mum or dad can apply for jobs online/ order the groceries.
IRL you will still be alive and functional with 1080.
Then if you do ‘need’ 4k then you need to pay for it.
I don’t think that CF should be giving people the capability to stream 4k for free.
or maybe get a job and get a faster connection like everyone else, its not a luxury and not meant for streaming maybe its there for people to use to apply for jobs
Stupid comment, some people may be on benefits because THEY PHYSICALLY CAN’T WORK.
I’m not speaking about them people , I’m speaking to the ones who don’t and can’t be arsed to get a job , also there are many people out there that are capable of working but choose not to , they should be assessed and not just given it because they are on benefits for the real people who need this then it’s an excellent idea but for those who can’t be bothered to work then they shouldn’t get it as I said assess these people for those who deserve it and those who don’t benefits are there to help people who need it not for people who can’t be arsed to do anything when they are more than capable to do so