Industry urged to take advantage of broadband plan
Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is urging UK businesses to take advantage of a newly revamped government scheme to help them gain access to faster and cheaper broadband
Monday, 20 Oct 2014 12:29 GMT
Just £7.5m of the £100m pledged by the government has been spent
Under the initiative, the government pledged to spend £100m helping business in the UK gain access to ultra-fast broadband to help support such companies moving forward.
However, uptake on the scheme has been relatively low with only 3,000 companies having applied for broadband vouchers and just £7.5m of the £100m spent so far.
Speaking to the BBC, Javid said: “This is a golden opportunity for businesses to take advantage of better broadband.
“The grant takes away the costs of installation, which are normally charged up front or added to monthly charges.”
The government has until March 2015 to distribute the remaining vouchers and, as part of an effort to move the scheme forward, has introduced a number changes that could boost the uptake rate.
This is a golden opportunity for businesses to take advantage of better broadband”
Qualifying businesses no longer need to fill in an application form and can instead access the grant with a call to a pre-approved broadband supplier.
In addition, businesses that have already identified a potential supplier only need to fill in a form to have their quote approved.
Suppliers can also apply to the BDUK—the group overseeing the process— with a set of eligible connection costs, which in turn eliminates the need for business to apply.
Also, once a broadband package has gained approval, suppliers can market them to eligible businesses without the need for additional forms.
