Substantial price decreases in FTTP on demand from February 2018, may fuel FTTP adoption
The UK Government has announced that it will invest £200 million to fund locally-led projects to deliver more true fibre connections across the UK. As an early part of this programme, the UK Government is currently testing – with an investment of £2 million – a new Gigabit Voucher Scheme to help finance the cost of FTTP to accelerate the deployment and take-up of full-fibre networks. Vouchers are being tested in:
• Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire
• Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset
• Coventry and Warwickshire
• West Yorkshire.
The scheme offers grants of up to £3000 to upgrade business broadband connections to a Gigabit-capable connection. It is expected that these pilot voucher schemes will be expanded across the UK. All connections supported by vouchers must be “capable” of delivering broadband connectivity at or above 1Gbps (which FTTP on Demand is) and must deliver a minimum of 100 Mbps. Vouchers cannot be used to pay VAT and cannot be used to support ongoing costs (i.e. monthly subscription charges). They can be used, however, towards the upfront costs of installing a FTTP on Demand connection. You can view terms and conditions for the scheme (provided by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport by clicking on the following link:
Terms and Conditions for Gigabit Connection Vouchers
With proper awareness building by the Government and local authorities, there could be strong demand for vouchers to help install FTTP on Demand connections now that ongoing subscription costs from February 2018 will be relatively affordable for small businesses. We will report on FTTP on Demand prices early next year.
