Government Triples Value of UK Gigabit Broadband Vouchers
The Government’s Building Digital UK team has today confirmed that they’re tripling the value of the vouchers they issue to homes under their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which helps those in rural areas to get a gigabit-capable internet connection installed. Businesses will also see a smaller boost.
Just to recap. Until today the voucher scheme offered grants worth up to £1,500 for homes or £3,500 for businesses to help them get a gigabit-capable broadband (1Gbps) service installed, which is available to areas with broadband speeds of less than 100Mbps available – assuming there are also no near-term plans for a gigabit deployment in the same area (either via commercial or state aid supported builds).
Some local authorities have also provided top-up funding for this, which in many cases has effectively doubled or more the value of these vouchers. Naturally, vouchers with bigger values are handy because they enable operators to deploy into increasingly remote areas, where the build costs would previously have been too expensive for such projects to proceed.
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Back in October 2022 we reported (here) that the BDUK team, which is the executive agency that oversees the Government’s various broadband and mobile programmes, were preparing to increase the value of their vouchers in order to help extend full fibre (FTTP) and other gigabit-capable networks deeper into the remotest rural communities. The details of this have now been confirmed.
The government will now “triple the value of vouchers” available under the scheme. From “early next year“, eligible homes and businesses will be able to apply for up to £4,500 to cover the costs of a gigabit-capable connection, up from £1,500 for homes and £3,500 for businesses previously, which will enable broadband providers to reach further into rural areas where the build costs are higher.
The move will no doubt be welcomed, although it’s worth remembering that the GBVS is somewhat of a limited scheme, which largely serves to nibble away at a much bigger problem. The voucher scheme has also had a rocky couple of years, not least due to the fact that it clashed with Project Gigabit’s larger deployment contracts under the Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy (GIS) programme. This caused some delays as the two sides of the project tend to target the same sort of rural areas and thus need to avoid duplicating their public investment.
On top of that, Openreach’s complementary Fibre Community Partnership (FCP) scheme is also still on hold (here) and that’s an issue because a lot of community groups have used them as part of their plans. But the operator did recently inform us that the current backlog is due to be resolved in early 2023 (here)
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Overall, more than 111,000 vouchers have been issued through the government’s vouchers schemes, and to date, more than 77,000 of these vouchers have been used to connect premises to gigabit-capable broadband.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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I think the problem with the be gigabit voucher scheme is that it’s still working out of the same 200million pot that simply must be getting close to empty. Mark, is there any chance you could ask about if there will be a further allocation to the gbvs ?
The £210m is actually the most recent allocation and only really started to be used from last year, while BDUK’s stats above appear to include vouchers released as part of their prior voucher scheme(s). We also have to remember that the voucher scheme is going through a lot of regional suspensions as OMR/Public Reviews are conducted, so I suspect they haven’t eaten too far into that pot of £210m yet.
“Great news! This address is currently eligible for a voucher.”
Yet the wholesale Fibre Checker (the new one being tested) says a build is planned by the end of this year. In which case I don’t understand why a voucher is available if a commercial network is planned…?
Really don’t know what info to believe. Gigaclear are also building in nearby villages expanding their network, but have said they don’t know how long they will be until actually taking orders on a live network, but suggested by Q1 2024 as a target completion date earlier this year. Again if so, why is the govt voucher scheme available…
And now four days later a check of the Gigabit Voucher scheme checker says that it’s not eligible, where as 1st of December it said it was.
Seems to flip and flop between being in a scheme or commercial rollout or not, same as the new Openreach checker seems to go from Dec 2022 to Dec 2026 and back again.
Local government website covering the contract for gigabit fibre in area doesn’t have any detail of what’s planned for postcode, but does elsewhere in town, and have been told it may be done by Dec 2026 (Openreach), may be sooner, if not they’ll look to cover it with Project Gigabit funding if it doesn’t get commercial rollout (eg: likely 2027 onwards)
Great if you’re able to get the vouchers. I can’t apply as it says they’ve been suspended for my area and its been this way for a while now
Put my address in and received this message:
“Vouchers in your area have been paused as your address may shortly be included in one of our Project Gigabit contracts. This could mean your home is in line for gigabit broadband without the need for a voucher. Please check back in a few weeks’ time for any further updates.”
Any ideas as to what this might mean?
Great news however virtually all of England is under Voucher Suspension by BDUK and they have no real picture of when this lockdown will be lifted. More money for Vouchers – No way to access them. you couldn’t make it up!!!
THIS VOUCHER SCHEME IS A FARCE AND A SCAM. I AM ELEIGIBLE AND BEEN TRYING SINCE 2020 TO OBTAIN VOUCHERS BUT OPENREACH JUAT KEEP SAYING THEY ARE WAITING FOR DCMS TO APPROVE THE FUNDING
A HOUSE ROUND THE CORNER PAID FOR FTTP ON DEMAND AND WHEN OPENREACH OUT THEIR CONNECTION IN THEY DAMAGED THE COPPER CABLES FOR THE REST OF THE ESTATE LIEAVING US WITH EVEN SLOWER BROADBAND
This scheme has always been a complete scam.
About 2 years ago, I organised a voucher scheme for about 70 properties in my area with very poor broadbnad speeds, (down to 200Kb/s). Then the rules changed; when you go to the eligibility checker now, half the post codes (the ones that currently have the best speeds) get the message: “Vouchers in your area have been paused as your address may shortly be included in one of our Project Gigabit contracts. This could mean your home is in line for gigabit broadband without the need for a voucher.” The other postcodes with the worst broadband and longest cable runs get the message: “Gigabit-capable broadband is rolling out rapidly across the UK and your area is likely to be covered by network providers as part of their commercial rollout, without government support.” Neither statement is true but it keeps us entertained.