A FURTHER £1m is being invested by Hampshire County Council to support the delivery of high-speed broadband to households in rural areas.

The funding will “top-up” the government’s existing Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.

The Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Keith Mans, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced how vital it is for communities to have access to reliable fast broadband. This enables people to stay socially connected, perform essential tasks, to work and learn from home, whilst also supporting economic activity.

“The vast majority of Hampshire – more than 97 per cent of premises - can access superfast broadband and since 2013, we’ve championed high speed connections for those in hard-to-reach areas. Thanks to this rollout, we have enabled 115,000 more homes and businesses to get connected.

“But it is important that we continue to target additional “broadband not-spots” so we are committing a further £1million to ‘top up’ the national voucher scheme. This will help even more people to get high speed connections where commercial operators will not provide services, due to the higher costs involved. I urge people to check if they are eligible for this financial assistance.”

The Hampshire Top-Up to the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme will enable eligible residents to get vouchers worth up to £3,000 per property – double that of the standard voucher, recognising the higher costs of installing broadband services in harder-to-reach areas.

To qualify for the scheme, residents must live in a rural area, be unable to get broadband speeds of 100Mbps or more and apply as a group of two or more premises. Applications for funding are made by the supplier directly to the government.

The voucher scheme with Hampshire Top-Up will be allocated on a “first-come, first served” basis.

Visit: hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com/alternative-solutions/gigabit-broadband-voucher-scheme

 

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