Shropshire UK Council Boost Gigabit Broadband Vouchers to £7k

The Shropshire Council in England has allocated another £500,000 (total so far of £2.5m) to help boost the value of gigabit broadband vouchers for rural areas, which means that local homes and businesses will now be able to apply for vouchers worth up to £7,000 to help them get a faster connection installed.

The UK Government’s scheme normally offers vouchers worth up to £4,500 for rural homes and 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).

However, some Local Authorities (LA) have also provided top-up funding to boost the voucher values, enabling them to reach some increasingly remote rural areas. The additional funding being allocated by SCC will thus boost the potential value of each voucher by a further £2,500 to total £7,000. The top-up will also prioritise those premises which are currently unable to access broadband speeds of at least 30Mbps.

Rob Gittins, Shropshire Council, said:

“I’m delighted to commit this additional investment to help some of our most rural homes and businesses get better broadband connections.

Over 98% of homes and businesses in Shropshire Council’s district can already access a superfast broadband connection with speeds of 30Mbps.

We’re now topping-up the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to target those final premises that can’t access superfast speeds, and where we know that delivering a faster broadband network is likely to be more expensive.

Improved digital connectivity remains a key priority for us as a council, in our efforts to create a sufficient, accessible and healthy economy for our residents and businesses.”

End.