Broadband Update

Good News!

We have been notified by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport that the application for Henbury to be included in the Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) schema has been accepted.

Many residents have already received an email asking them to complete a document accepting the terms of the scheme.

The email is from gigabit.vouchers@notifications.service.gov.uk and is genuine, and is addressed to you personally.

We have had a number of questions relating to the voucher, and have tried to answer below some of the most pressing ones. Further updates will be provided in the coming days.

1. VAT

There will NOT be a VAT charge for the voucher or for the scheme. We have had this confirmed to us by Openreach. You will have to pay any charges to your new or existing broadband provider for a high speed FTTP service.

2. Sole trader or Business

Even if you have a residential line, please indicate your business activity and supply proof of invoicing of any services to your residential address. This allows Openreach to claim for a higher value voucher contribution.

3. No email

We are aware that not all those signed up have received an email as yet. We are looking into this and will revert asap as to why this is.

4. New connection

You will be required to have a FTTP service for the voucher to be valid. At the moment BT, Zen and a few other smaller providers offer FTTP services. However, more service providers will be coming on board all the time, therefore it is hoped other choices will be available by the time the scheme is in place.

5. Timescale

The emails must be responded to within 28 days. Once we believe we have sufficient funding it is hoped that we could have a FTTP service within 6-9 months. It really is important that we achieve the necessary voucher funding, or the scheme will not proceed further.