How is this project funded, and how do homes and businesses access this service?
We have registered a specific project for The Wilbrahams with The Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) to access government funds provided through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Under this scheme, any resident or business that receives a voucher will have the entire cost of the installation paid for by their voucher.
Cambridge Fibre will request this voucher on your behalf, after you have ordered a service from us. If for any reason the voucher is not granted, the order can be cancelled without any penalty.
Why is the deadline for securing a voucher 30th March 2021?
A rule change is coming into force on April 1st which will disqualify The Wilbrahams from receiving funding under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Only a few weeks’ notice was given that this rule change would affect The Wilbrahams. When we discovered that this was the case we requested that scheme be set up without delay.
We have now secured authorisation for sufficient vouchers to cover every business and home in Great Wilbraham and Little Wilbraham.
However, any vouchers not allocated to a specific business or resident by the end of March will be lost, and no further funding will be provided.
Our primary objective now is to get as many vouchers as possible into as many hands as possible before the deadline.
Aside from a free installation, are there any further benefits to these vouchers?
Yes. If one home or business in a street uses a voucher to order a service, there is an indirect benefit to their neighbours. This is because those voucher-funded orders are paying to bring multiple fibres to that street that will available to those neighbouring properties in the future.
In other words, long after the voucher scheme is gone, residents and businesses on those streets which received funding continue to benefit from that subsidised fibre. Those premises that missed out on a voucher will be offered a service at a very affordable price due to the presence of that fibre.
The converse is also true. For streets that missed out on voucher funding, the cost of installing fibre later will be higher.
Does availability of Full-Fibre affect house values?
Yes, it does. Online auctioneers like RightMove and Zoopla now detail broadband speeds and types with their property listings. A number of studies have been carried out in the UK recently, and poor broadband performance is known to reduce house values by between 20% and 25%:
This is Money – The REAL cost of bad broadband
Savills – Does high speed broadband drive house prices?
I run a business from home. Should I request a residential voucher or a business voucher?
You should request a business voucher. Businesses attract more funding than home broadband. We rely on these businesses vouchers to cross-subsidise the residential installations.
How soon will the build start, and when will I be connected?
We will be building this network over the coming 12 months. You can choose your own installation date in consultation with our planners. Even if you are still in-contract with your existing provider, the time to order is now. When ordering simply ask for an activation date that coincides with the end of your existing contract.
The first homes will be connected in about 4 months’ time. The roll-out program will then progress throughout 2021. We aim to connect all customers that are ready to switch before the end of March 2022.
The Voucher Scheme that serves The Wilbrahams will be closed for new voucher applications in a matter of days. Act now to secure your free installation.
Will this mean there will be a lot of noise and disruption during construction?
No, we have a very environmentally friendly approach to building our network, which will keep disruption to a minimum.
By using existing underground ducts and telegraph poles we have an extremely low environmental impact both in terms of carbon footprint, and in terms of disruption in the neighbourhoods where we are working.
The optical technologies we use to deliver our service use a small fraction of the energy used by the old copper equipment we are replacing.
How do I order and what is the process like?
If you either run a business from home, or operate from a commercial premises, please click on the Business Broadband link below. Otherwise click on the Residential Broadband link.
You can then choose between a range of different speeds, and choose whether you would like a 12 month or 24 month contract.
Two very important points to note are:
- We are offering very large discounts in year 1 for customers taking a 24 month contract.
- Those on 24 month contracts have complete freedom to change their chosen package in year 2.
Our ordering system will not take any payment or financial details from you now.
Once your order is on the system, we will request a Gigabit Voucher on your behalf. You will then receive an email asking you to confirm your order, and your acceptance of the rules of the scheme. Our application for your voucher is done manually, so there is a delay between receipt of your order, and this email being sent to you.
If for any reason you don’t qualify for a voucher, the order can be cancelled without penalty.
