Did you know you can claim a grant of up to £2,500 towards an ultrafast, Gigabit internet connection?
We live in a world where fast, resilient internet is a must. We often think we’re ahead of the game, but have you heard that Britain’s average internet speed ranks 31st in the world, falling behind most of Europe, Thailand and New Zealand? The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have launched a £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to help small businesses keep up with the larger players.
You may have heard about the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. It’s a grant the Government’s offering to small and medium sized businesses with less than 250 employees. For a limited time only, these companies can claim up to £2,500 towards the installation of a gigabit-capable internet connection. We want to make sure you understand the facts and don’t miss out.
The technical bit
Standard broadband delivers speeds up to 20Mbs (mega-bits per second). Fibre-optic broadband, also known as BT infinity or superfast broadband can deliver speeds up to 80Mbs. Fibre-optic broadband isn’t available in all areas, and there are many “not-spots” where it can’t be supplied at all. Gigabit or ultra-fast broadband provides a dedicated full-fibre optic connection to the premises with speeds available from 100Mbs to 1000Mbs.
What this really means for your business
A Gigabit connection simply enables you to complete tasks quickly and efficiently. Usually downloading large numbers of photographs, videos or streaming media can take time, slowing down business productivity. Gigabit connections allow 100 photos or songs to be downloaded in just 3 seconds and a HD movie can be downloaded in 7 seconds.
Tasks like transferring large files, presenting a webinar or watching large training videos suddenly become pain free and seamless with no delays or glitches.
Gigabit internet is often used by organisations that have a large number of users or that engage with a lot of multimedia content. It’s brilliant for supporting HD streaming, it has improved support for multiple users and devices, video conferencing and fast data transfers and multimedia uploads and downloads.
The benefits of claiming a voucher
Businesses should be thinking seriously about taking advantage of this offer and here’s why…
Keep up to speed
Over 95% of the UK now has coverage for superfast broadband with speeds of 24 megabits per second or higher. This isn’t being used to its potential when most connections still depend on copper telephone wires, which are limited in the speeds they can support. BT Openreach has already stated that they intend to phase out all copper-based traditional telephone lines by 2025 and they plan to start this process in 2020. By taking advantage of the voucher scheme now, you can future-proof your business against these changes.
If your business depends on reliable broadband, capable of delivering faster speeds, with a guaranteed uptime and a full-service level agreement, then taking the leap towards a full fibre connection is a must.
Increase productivity
The last broadband voucher scheme saw 50,000 businesses upgrade their internet connections and of these 50,000, 86% reported the internet upgrade had significantly increased the productivity of their employees. That’s a statistic you can rely on.
Slow, unpredictable internet can cause delays and frustrations in the workplace which can impact on the productivity of your staff, staff morale and the culture of your business. When broadband goes offline, your business can grind to a halt quite quickly, impacting your business and resulting in lost revenue. With a Gigabit, ultrafast connection which comes with an ultra-reliable 99.9% uptime, you can turbo-charge your business and your productivity, knowing that down-time is virtually non-existent.
Customer satisfaction
As we’ve discussed, slow internet and delays can cause frustration and friction for your staff, but this can also directly affect your customers.
Your customers will have a better experience if your staff are happy at work. They’ll be greeted by a positive and helpful team and their experience overall will be more efficient and enjoyable.
Seamless connectivity also means you get the best out of the other services and platforms you’ve invested in. Marketing, sales and finance experiences can only be as good as the connectivity they’re provided with and Gigabit internet means your customers always see the very best of your business.
Save thousands of pounds
Gigabit internet can seem like an expensive investment which is usually something only larger businesses can afford to install.
Small and medium-sized businesses with less than 250 employees, and an annual turnover of less than £45M could qualify for the Gigabit Voucher grant to save thousands of pounds on the initial infrastructure costs.
As well as the obvious initial saving, once installed businesses will continue to see money saving through their increased productivity and customer and staff satisfaction and retention. The monthly rental of a new connection is often less than the cost of your current internet and phone lines combined, so by utilising a Gigabit internet connection for both voice and data, you can not only have a faster internet, you can have a more reliable phone connection too!
Why nxcoms?
We care about each and every one of our customers and excel in providing a bespoke, personal service.
Our experience and expertise in telecoms means we understand how critical the internet is to your business. We can assist you along every step of the way, from arranging for your connection voucher, to installing, configuring and maintaining your gigabit ultrafast internet connection. So that once you decide to proceed, the whole process is simple and straightforward as possible.
To find out if you qualify and to take advantage of the scheme, click here or email info@nxcoms.co.uk
