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Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme approval delays for CFPs?

CharmingCent

Regular Member
OpenReach tell me that DCMS still haven't approved our CFP rural gigabit vouchers. We requested approval mid-Jan. Is it normal for it to take so long, or am I being strung along until the new voucher scheme kicks in next month?

It's a bit of a worry as we're in Dorset, and the Dorset Council top-up funding runs out at the end of this month. The project is untenable without it.
 
For us, DCMS vouchers were requested at the start of December, we were in a position to start pledging on the Openreach portal by mid-January. We moved to the 'Delivery' stage in mid-February after enough pledges were made.

I would imagine your project would receive the new voucher amounts if you are in Area 3? Unsure what this will be but could imagine they will be more than currently (ours were £7k for sub 30Mbps in Kent) as Area 2 postcodes will no longer be covered.
 
Thanks for the reply Slim. Sounds like we've waited a couple more weeks than you already, fingers crossed we'll hear something soon.

We are in Area 3, but I haven't seen anything to suggest the voucher values will be similar to locally topped-up vouchers. Did I miss something?
 
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Thanks for the reply Slim. Sounds like we've waited a couple more weeks than you already, fingers crossed we'll hear something soon.

We are in Area 3, but I haven't seen anything to suggest the voucher values will be similar to locally topped-up vouchers. Did I miss something?

Not yet. I'm just assuming they will be more generous as I think there is a larger budget for less postcodes, so there will less need for local top ups. Like yourself, if only £1500 per property was available, I would never have looked at a CFP!

I'm sure all will be revealed soon.
 
Everybody is in a holding pattern until DCMS gets the all clear from HM Treasury to launch the new gigabit voucher scheme, which is due to start at the end of this month. BDUK/DCMS could announce it today if they had the final rubber stamp, but there's a process to follow.
 
Same for me here for a CFP. Been waiting for DCMS approval since early January, have now been told by the REM that its likely not to happen until the new scheme is announced and despite being within the deadline for the old scheme it will likely to transfered onto the new one.

This is certainly not a quick process :rolleyes:
 
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So it looks like voucher levels are remaining the same + top ups which is a bit disappointing. I guess we'd need to wait and hear what these top ups may be, but again I assume they will be mainly for those under 30Mbps.
 
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Here's my latest update after chasing it :

"Yes, the DCMS will accept applications for the new scheme from the 09/04. However, As you are in Area 3, your application will automatically transition to the new scheme. The DCMS were inundated with applications up to the cut-off date of the 19/02, they have been prioritising Area 2 communities that will not have access to the new voucher scheme post 31/03. I’m hoping that we will start to see some movement from early April."
 
Still haven't heard a peep from OpenReach. The gigabit voucher website says we're now ineligible. I've no idea whether our January request will be honoured or if we'll be subsumed into a larger multi-year scheme.

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Hi all

Is it just me or have things gone deathly quiet now on this front ? I thought come April once the new scheme launched this would all spring into life but nothing lately despite a couple of chasers, sounds like its still awaiting DCMS approval for me.......

Coming up to a year now since I kicked this off............christ.
 
It's not just you.

Very frustrating and also a bit embarrassing as I've quoted OpenReach's timelines to my neighbours.
 
We finally got our Ballpark Figure back from Openreach this morning - it looks like it’s been expanded out to cover whole streets or postcodes where one or more addresses were entered on the site. It’s left some rather large gaps in the middle of the village - does anyone have much experience of amending the addresses at this stage - it feels to me like filling in the central gaps should result in a lower cost per address overall?

(It looks like for some odd reason as well that Hanslope Park Foreign Commonwealth Offices at the very bottom right of the map have somehow made an appearance despite being several miles from any interested addresses! Is this normal - I assume it’s distance from the others might also be increasing the cost?)
 

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