Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme
The government is committed to delivering lightning-fast, reliable gigabit-capable broadband to everyone in the UK as soon as possible, working hard with broadband providers to accelerate their commercial development plans.
For hard to reach areas where broadband is more costly to build, the government is investing £5 billion to ensure places are not left behind.
The rollout to hard to reach areas of the UK will be subsidised by government contracts, awarded to broadband providers over the next few years, until the whole of the UK is connected.
Freedom Hotspot is an Registered Supplier in this programme and works with rural communities that have been denied superfast Internet to date.
If you and your community are not included in any commercial rollout plans and you do not want to wait for your area to be connected through the Project Gigabit rollout, you can apply for UK Gigabit Vouchers through this scheme.
What is a Gigabit connection?
For the fastest and most reliable broadband, capable of delivering gigabit speeds, a full-fibre connection is required. One gigabit is the same as 1,000 megabits – so it’s a big leap forward in connection speeds that could benefit you into the future. Gigabit-capable broadband also supports symmetrical connections – meaning your upload and download speeds can be the same.
How do the Vouchers work?
Businesses or residents that are eligible for gigabit vouchers can access the scheme through Freedom Hotspot, an Registered Supplier.
Voucher funding can only be used through a broadband supplier registered to this scheme as part of a broadband upgrade project shared with your neighbours. A supplier may already be developing a project in your area, or they may be able to develop a new project if there is enough demand in your community.
They will need to develop a project proposal to connect you and your neighbours, and then request vouchers on your behalf. Funding is only committed when a voucher requested on your behalf has been approved by us, and we have your agreement to our terms and conditions.
Reach today if you and your community are suffering from slow broadband speeds and want to explore how you can achieve Gigabit connectivity and benefit everyone looking to get connected at no cost to you via this government scheme.