Ultrafast Broadband update

9 August 2022

It’s been a while since we last updated you on progress, the simple reason for which is that BDUK (the government agency that is responsible for digital connectivity) has put the voucher scheme on hold to conduct a procurement exercise for Hampshire.

This exercise is designed to see if any supplier has plans to roll out fibre in our area.  We knew it was due to start at the end of January and would last “for a few months” but, 6 months on, we are no clearer on when it might end.  We are trying to find out, but it’s a slow process.

In parallel, we are working with Openreach to refine their quote and ensure we can include everyone who has registered interest, but until the voucher scheme resumes, we are unable to make progress.

Whatever happens, we will try to keep you up to date as and when any significant changes happen.  In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Regards,
Tim Lipscombe & Dan Steel.

31 January 2022

This is the first in a series of updates designed to keep you up to date with our progress towards installing the infrastructure needed for the broadband upgrade.

We had a very good response to our request, with 117 households committing to the upgrade.  Although this is 5 below our break-even target, we have several ‘maybes’ that we hope to convert before the final list is sent to Building Digital UK (BDUK – the government department that administers the voucher scheme) as set out below. If you know someone in the village who didn’t sign up but now wishes to then please let us know; it is not too late.

We have now submitted a revised list of interested properties to Openreach.  As there were additions, Openreach are in the process of reviewing their original quote to see if these will affect the final price. They will then come back to us with a revised quote. This may take a little while, especially as they are currently very busy, and we will let you know when there is anything further to report.

The next steps in the process, as we understand them, are:

• When Openreach come back to us with a revised quote, we decide if we want to accept it and we confirm the people who have agreed to upgrade
• Openreach submit the list to BDUK.  They will contact a subset of people on the list and use the responses they get to determine how many vouchers they will approve
• Openreach will work out the difference (hopefully zero!) between the cost of the work and the value of the vouchers, and bill us for that amount.  We are working on a plan should there be something to pay.
• Depending on the final bill, we either agree and the work is scheduled into their master build plan, or we decline and the project is shelved.

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Tim Lipscombe or Dan Steel and we’ll do our best to answer your questions.