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Entanet is backing the government’s £2 million Gigabit business connectivity scheme. The connectivity provider has announced that it will give Channel partners access to the DCMS voucher scheme, aimed at accelerating the roll out of full-fibre services to businesses by making the switch more affordable for SMEs.
The vouchers work by covering the entire installation cost for Channel customers seeking to access Entanet’s new CityFibre-based GPON and Ethernet 1Gbps bearer services, which offer bandwidth options ranging from 100Mbps to 1Gbps.
The vouchers are available immediately across all of the four areas covered by the first wave of the DCMS scheme: Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Bristol and Bath and North East Somerset, Coventry and Warwickshire – all district, West Yorkshire Combined authorities – Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield and York
Entanet’s head of Products Paul Heritage-Redpath said: “We’ve worked closely with the DCMS and our CityFibre colleagues to maximise the opportunity within this scheme for our channel partners, who will be able to participate in it from the day of launch. The initial four areas are already covered by our own CityFibre full-fibre infrastructure and the voucher scheme presents businesses in these regions with the chance to take full advantage of connectivity services that significantly enhance their competitive edge. This is an exciting development that gives our partners an ideal opportunity to join Entanet on its joint mission with CityFibre to truly accelerate Britain’s full-fibre digital future.”
The voucher scheme will be used to fund new connections that are ‘gigabit-capable’ and deliver a minimum of 100Mbps from day one. The initial scheme runs until 31 March 2019 or until the funding is consumed, with vouchers worth between £500 and £3000 to cover the cost of installation of all new full-fibre gigabit capable services to eligible SME customers. To qualify for the scheme, businesses must meet a stringent set of guidelines available via Entanet.
