Do you know, out of interest what the commercial threshold is? Is it per house??

Just to keep this thread updated, I requested access to the Portal on Wednesday 29/09/21. Received login details and spoke with my allocated OR contact on Monday 04/10/21. Submitted addresses on Wednesday 06/10/21 which the rural manager confirmed were received the following day. Today I have received confirmation from that offshore infrastructure team that the build has been passed for the desktop quote and I should hear within 28 working days.

Realistically things are going to be tight, as the rural vouchers aren’t claimable for a period after the end of the year. My OR contact isn’t concerned however and as soon as we receive the ballpark figure he is going to progress the voucher process.

So far so good it seems. Roll on a multi million pound ballpark quote to connect the 27 addresses!

Thanks for the update - generally interested to see how it goes for you - and hope it works out.
Timescales wise - have you been given any indication - I understood that it could likely take 12months to get the build done after contracts were signed etc.

Where about are you in the country by the way ?

I guess this is the challenge with many things - those things that don't go so well you hear about - but if it works as it should then you don't tend to hear about it.

Timescale wise, the Rural manager is trying to progress things to move to delivery stage before 2022. I would imagine the usual 12 month to build will still apply, however as all the cabling is run to the Agg Node I’m hoping it should be too much of a job to do.

I’m based in the South West.

Just in the way of an update, I have had the provisional quote back today, with a gap of £11772. This figure is to allow for a build to 29 houses and will be easily covered by Gigabit vouchers. The next stage is final quote confirmation, which should be signed of next week according to our account manager. The planning has taken pretty much bang on 4 weeks, however this was slightly delayed due to the need for a specialist team to review and plan the build. I think the specialist team involvement means there is no need for the provisional quote to be reviewed prior to final offer.

Once the final offer is received the funding application is the next step, hopefully it won’t be too hideous!

Just as a way of an update, I received the final quote confirming the provisional quote yesterday. The quote was delayed significantly as apparently there has been a huge uplift in CFP applications and OR were reviewing each individual builds to confirm they can in fact facilitate the build within the current infrastructure and resourcing available.

Openreach confirm they believe they have capacity so they have now started applying for the gigabit voucher approval from DCMS. Next stage will be to apply for funding once approval is received.

So far communication has been good, even if a little slow at times.

To update, DCMS have advised that they do not believe the scheme is good value for them, which is slightly bizarre, but I am now waiting to hear from the local MP, who is the only person able to speak to them on our behalf!

In reply to a post by Maverick567:

To update, DCMS have advised that they do not believe the scheme is good value for them, which is slightly bizarre, but I am now waiting to hear from the local MP, who is the only person able to speak to them on our behalf!

Am I understanding correctly, DCMS are refusing vouchers and you're in a voucher eligible postcode?

You are, yes. They state the scheme does not pose value for money!