Earlier this year we canvassed Walkeringham residents to determine the level of interest in getting a Gigabit capable broadband service in the village, we received c.150 positive responses. Openreach then used the supplied information to produce a proposal for the village along with indicative costs.
Their proposal, covers a greater number of properties than those which expressed an interest, in fact it covers some 500+ specific properties in the area. The indicative costs for this upgrade amounts to an investment of just over £500,000. The good news is that this cost should be eligible for funding by the Government led DCMS Gigabit Voucher Scheme.
The Gigabit Voucher Scheme provides qualifying residential address with a voucher for £1500 and qualifying business addresses get £3500. This voucher cannot be cashed-in for personal use but can be pledged to a broadband scheme. Further information re. the voucher scheme is available here.
Once Openreach have their proposal validated within the scheme, likely to be in early 2022, a new web page/link will be made available to residents (so there is nothing more to do at the moment).
At this time those property owners/residents included in the Openreach proposal will be invited to pledge and validate their vouchers and also to commit to ordering an ultrafast service when available. This is an extract from an Openreach document explaining this.
“Government funding is available to help pay for the cost of having the fibre network built. The UK Gigabit Voucher scheme available from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), means that every eligible address can claim a residential voucher worth up to £1500 (or up to £3500 for a business/sole trader) to improve broadband in their local area. The community needs to come together to pledge and validate their individual vouchers and reach the required pledge target. Only one voucher can be claimed per address. By pledging your residential or business voucher, you’re taking the first step towards getting Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband. You’re also agreeing to install or regrade your broadband to an ultrafast package, once service is available.”
If the required minimum quantity of pledges is reached then the proposal will move forward.
Information relating to the service we hope to get is available here.