Gigabit Voucher Scheme - Qualifying ISPs and Costs

Hi all,

I am involved in getting a community fibre partnership off the ground - good progress so far, with a sensible quote from Openreach and hopeful of getting most of it funded via the Gigabit Voucher scheme, however we are struggling to get clarity on one important aspect....

The conditions of the voucher scheme require participants to sign up for 12 months of �superfast� service following the installation. Wading through T&Cs, we think that to qualify as �superfast�, subscriptions must be for a service of more than 100mbps and at least double current speeds. If anyone can confirm this assumption, I�d be very grateful.

However, the real questions are:

- How much would a service such as this cost? It�s v hard to find information on FTTP service providers who are offering packages over Openreach infrastructure - obviously, we don�t pass any �availability checks� today because the infrastructure hasn�t been installed - so no info on pricing or service levels

- Assuming we have to pay a premium for the above service for the first year in order to secure the vouchers, would people be able to �downgrade� to a lower level of service and hence monthly payment after the 12 months is up? Can you get a �normal� internet service via FTTP, or are you limited to superfast, super expensive options at £70 per month+?

Hope these don�t seem like ridiculous questions, but really struggling to get clarity on these points, which are critical for some of the members of the community who would love an upgrade on their current 1-5mbps connections, but are reluctant to get locked into expensive long term contracts.

We are going to ask everyone for an upfront deposit at least equal to the value of the voucher to secure the venture against any defaults, so being very clear on what people are committing to is critical to getting buy in.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/packages/fttp-broadband

NOTE: Superfast usually means 30 Mbps and faster, 100 Mbps is usually ultrafast. The Gigabit vouchers are about getting people off of the standard superfast products

Slowest Openreach FTTP service is the 40/10 package, but there is 55/10 and 80/20 too before you get to the ultrafast options

In reply to a post by Markbe:

The conditions of the voucher scheme require participants to sign up for 12 months of �superfast� service following the installation. Wading through T&Cs, we think that to qualify as �superfast�, subscriptions must be for a service of more than 100mbps and at least double current speeds. If anyone can confirm this assumption, I�d be very grateful.

Sounds right to me. The connection must be "gigabit capable", which essentially means delivered over fibre (but they don't have to install gigabit-capable CPE)

In reply to a post by Markbe:

- Assuming we have to pay a premium for the above service for the first year in order to secure the vouchers, would people be able to �downgrade� to a lower level of service and hence monthly payment after the 12 months is up? Can you get a �normal� internet service via FTTP, or are you limited to superfast, super expensive options at £70 per month+?

Yes you can downgrade, and yes you can get 40/10 or 80/20 over FTTP at about the same price as those services are on FTTC. There are some (lucky) parts of the country which *only* have FTTP, and they are not penalised for this. However you will have a smaller number of service providers to choose from, and thus less choice when shopping around.

This is improving though - some big names like Sky have said they'll start selling FTTP.

Many thanks for both responses - really helpful!

edit: deleted confusing nonsense

Edited by j0hn83 (Tue 04-Dec-18 22:38:11)

Maybe not for the CFP, but the Gigabit Voucher terms and conditions require delivery of a minimum of 100Mbps service.

4. Connectivity Requirements

All connections supported by vouchers must fulfil BOTH of the following characteristics:

1. be capable of delivering broadband connectivity to your premises at or above 1Gbps upload
or download at the time of delivery of the connection without the need for future hardware
upgrades or modification (excluding CPE � it is not mandatory to deploy 1Gbps capable CPE
from the outset if this is not required to deliver service)

2. deliver a minimum of 100Mbit/s to your premises. The upgraded broadband service must
deliver a �step change� in service which, for the avoidance of doubt, is at least a doubling of
speeds compared to the service currently being consumed by you.