Herefordshire Council Decision

Herefordshire Council has approved the decision to join a new government scheme to expand gigabit coverage (1000mbps) across the southern half of the county.

The latest ThinkBroadband figures show over 93% of properties in Herefordshire can access a superfast broadband connection (defined as 30mbps), with over 36% able to access a gigabit capable connection, largely as a result of the Fastershire superfast programme.

A recent government announcement has committed additional funding for the south of the county to be part of a national gigabit scheme. Project Gigabit aims to increase access to gigabit capable broadband to 85% of UK properties by the end of 2025 by funding the rollout in areas that are not being reached through private sector investment.

This follows the news that Gigaclear, one of the suppliers operating in the county, is struggling to deliver to some of the hardest to reach areas. The council decision approved this month sees a break from Gigaclear’s delivery to properties in the south of the county and these properties to join Project Gigabit, the central Government managed scheme. Whilst in the north of Herefordshire Gigaclear uses additional investment to complete their commitments to see large numbers of businesses and households benefit from gigabit capable full fibre broadband. Fastershire’s rollout with Airband, operating in both north and south of the county will continue.

Herefordshire Council will look to introduce a grant to households affected by the Gigaclear changes to fund an interim solution until the Government’s Project Gigabit is operating. The household grant is in development and is planned to launch in February 2022.

The council decision also outlines additional support for community schemes and a new business support programme. This is based on the recognition that broadband coverage is an important part of everyday life for work, study and connecting with others.

For the properties that have access to less than 10Mbps broadband speed, universal service obligation (USO) exist to provide ‘decent’ broadband, for more information, please click here.

To view the Herefordshire Council decision report, please click here.