Solution Found to Tackle UK Gigabit Voucher Concerns by AltNets

The CEO of alternative full fibre broadband ISP B4RN, Michael Lee, has revealed that the UK Government (DCMS / Building Digital UK) are proposing “Voucher Priority Areas” as a semi-solution to the disruption caused by their new £5bn Project Gigabit programme in rural parts of Cumbria and Northumberland.

As previously reported (here and here), B4RN, much like other alternative network (AltNet) providers, are currently harnessing millions of pounds worth of gigabit vouchers and community investor loans to help them build out their own Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in remote rural communities.

However, the provider recently warned that many of their projects in Cumbria and Northumberland (i.e. those that are both in-build or planned for the near future) had been put at risk as a result of Project Gigabit’s move to pause the voucher scheme in those two regions (this process was due to begin today). The impact was also felt by other AltNets.

Previously, B4RN said they had been assured that communities where they planned to build – using vouchers – in the next 5-years were to be marked as “Conditional White.” This meant they would have been available for them to build, until the Regional Suppliers under BDUK’s gap-funded contracts have completed build in uncontested areas – ensuring pace of build is optimised across the region.

Sadly, B4RN recently found that a large proportion of their planned 5-year build programme was to be “included in the initial procurement” for regional suppliers under Project Gigabit, including “many areas where B4RN is already actively engaged with communities and where planning for a voucher funded build is well underway.” Needless to say, they weren’t too happy about that.

On the flip side, DCMS has a duty to protect taxpayer’s money, not least by avoiding duplication of the rollout and public investment, which sometimes makes it necessary to temporarily halt vouchers in some areas to help build up a stable picture of coverage and eligibility. The good news is that, following a related debate in parliament on Monday, a partial solution may have been found.

Michael Lee, B4RN CEO, said:

“Today DCMS announced that they will be identifying ‘Voucher Priority Areas’ within the procurement scope of Project Gigabit. Within these areas, voucher applications will remain open during the Project Gigabit procurement process. This is an important change which should go a significant way to mitigating the impact of the 24th September deadline and enable far greater continuity of delivery across B4RN projects.

We will be working hard with DCMS over the next few weeks to identify which B4RN communities can be included in ‘Voucher Priority Areas’. Once we have a clear picture across all of our affected projects I will write to each project individually.

I have no doubt that this positive change is a direct result of the vocal and heartfelt support for B4RN that has come from all of our communities over the last few months – thank you.”

A spokesperson for DCMS told ISPreview.co.uk this week: “We have listened to people’s concerns and are working closely with B4RN and other suppliers to make vouchers available for projects we think will result in more premises being connected sooner … No eligible home or business will miss out on funding, through either a voucher or Project Gigabit contract.”

Overall this sounds like a positive outcome, even though it did take a very public campaign, and the intervention of several MPs, before a solution was finally proposed. Hopefully the same method will be used in other parts of the country, and with other AltNets, where such situations arise in the future.