How is this project funded, and how do homes and businesses access this service?
We have registered a specific project for Bottisham and Lode 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.
Is there a deadline for securing a voucher?
We are currently in somewhat of a limbo period prior to Cambridgeshire entering into a county-wide “procurement” process. During this period, we have been able to request vouchers for a number of Bottisham and Lode residents. We have recently been advised that the (already delayed) procurement process will begin in January 2022. At that point a decision will be made whether or not Bottisham and Lode will be designated a “Voucher Priority Area”. If the villages are granted that status, then we will continue apply for vouchers for residents.
If on the other hand Bottisham and Lode are not granted Voucher Priority Area status, then voucher availability will cease. Any residents wishing to upgrade would either miss-out of full-fibre availability in the short term, or would have to pay for the installation themselves.
It is our objective to have Bottisham and Lode designated as a Voucher Priority Area, thus ensuring that the villages are fully upgraded, and that all residents can have access to full-fibre without having to pay an installation charge. The more people that sign up now, the better the chances that we will succeed in this.
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?
Construction of the network has already begun. We have live fibre on the A1303, which we will be extending into Bottisham in January 2022. We will be building-out this network from January to September 2022. 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 March 2022. The roll-out program will then progress throughout 2022. The Gigabit Voucher Scheme requires us to connect all customers within one year of the voucher being issued. It is our intention that most customers will be connected by September 2022.
The Voucher Scheme for Bottisham and Lode could be closed without notice at any time. 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. We only dig-up pavements when we have no other alternative.
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, please note that the DCMS system is still a manual process. You will then receive an email asking you to confirm your order, and your acceptance of the rules of the scheme.
If for any reason you don’t qualify for a voucher, the order can be cancelled without penalty or you can decide that you still like the service and pay for the installation fee (£125 for a two year contract or £225 for a one year contract)
