Ann Pye – Voucher Scheme Case Study

“Our only avenue to increased speed was through Fibre to the premises (FTTP) and this could only be achieved with use of a Governments Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and Digital Cheshire’s Top-up Scheme. I’d like to say a thank you to everybody who supported in making this possible.”

What was the reason you and the community setup a voucher scheme?

Our community is in a rural area and is sparsely populated. The broadband connection was through copper wire and was affected by adverse weather conditions.  Even when there were no adverse weather events, the broadband speed ranged between 1 and 2 mbps download, upload was non-existent. With this speed, no-one was able to use streaming services, attend zoom meetings, communicate with distant family over videos and any online form submission was carried out in the hope that it would reach the destination.

The businesses locally were unable to complete the many online forms and submit statutory documentation due to the abysmal speeds.  Some businesses purchased 4g connectivity in the hope that some of the online work could be submitted. And even with this additional technology, people were sending forms in the early hours of the morning in the hope that, with reduced traffic, these forms would be submitted successfully.

Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) was eventually available to nearby premises, but our community were too distant from the cabinet to be able to access this improved architecture. I had approached Openreach on more than one occasion to discuss the installation of a further cabinet to enable us to receive better speeds but the cost of doing so was prohibitive. Our only avenue to increased speed was through Fibre to the premises (FTTP) and this could only be achieved with use of a Governments Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and Digital Cheshire’s Top-up Scheme.

How did you find the engagement process between gaining community interest and getting a supplier on board?

I spent many hours trying to get a supplier on board. Emails were sent, phone calls made and advice and support were obtained from Digital Cheshire, Local Councillor and our MP. The community were extremely interested in getting fibre but in the main thought it best if I oversaw the process. Once the contract had been awarded to Openreach, everything went to plan.  The engineers were helpful, respectful of people and property and nothing was too much trouble. Openreach kept us fully informed as to what was happening, why things were happening and when we would expect completion.

Who delivered the network and how would you describe their approach?

Openreach were brilliant. My only problem was that we were informed at a very late stage in the process about the requirement for a CIC for this specific scheme to be set up to contract with Openreach.  This was required even though there were sufficient funds available in the form of Government vouchers and top up vouchers from Digital Cheshire/ Cheshire East Council.

However, the actual installation was carried out efficiently and quickly – once authority to do so had been granted.  Surveys were carried out and I was kept informed as to the progress. One member of the community was concerned about the location of poles close to her property, but Openreach worked extremely hard to work around this problem.  And there are no poles outside the property.

What have your speeds gone from and to?

The speed via copper wire varied between 1 and 2mbps. However, during adverse weather conditions, the speed would drop even lower or be non-existent.  The upload was in the region of 0.2-0.3 mbps.

Now with fibre, my speed is just under 150mbps and upload is 30mbps.  However, if I wished to do so, there is 900mbps available on my line.

What are the key benefits you are enjoying since switching to full fibre broadband?

For me personally, I now have the ability to host and join meetings held over the internet – Teams and Zoom.  I am able to use streaming services. And I am also able to communicate with my distant family over video links. And I know my business neighbours are now able to submit statutory forms as and when required without hesitation.

What advice would you give to other communities who are wanting to explore voucher schemes?

Firstly, the most important thing to establish is the community interest in such a project.  I was lucky in that everyone wanted the increased speeds and therefore, did not require much intervention from me to complete the various stages. Once there is enough interest, I would suggest contact should be made with Digital Cheshire/ Cheshire East to establish which contractors may be interested and to establish what vouchers may be available. Once contractors are known the next action is to obtain a quote and when this is to hand, this will inform the next step.