Government Runs out of Money for Broadband Voucher Scheme for Small and Medium Businesses

The revolutionary voucher scheme enabling more businesses to get broadband internet access is in jeopardy.

The UK government has been forced to put the scheme on hold due to a lack of funds for the initiative. The voucher scheme offered an inexpensive way for businesses with fewer than 3,000 employees to upgrade to super-fast internet connections.

The scheme was immensely popular and over 40,000 companies registered an interest. The voucher scheme was supposed to run until March 2016, or until the funds to support new applications ran out. Unfortunately this is now the case, the scheme has run out of money well before the suggested end date.

They DCMS say that they have had to put the scheme on hold while they look into whether the last amount of money has been allocated to businesses. Just a month previously the government repeated the message that the number of vouchers were limited and offered on a first come first served basis. They believe that the scheme has been a massive success in helping tens of thousands of businesses access high speed internet at a low cost.

Before the vouchers ran out, Ed Vaizey – Digital minister appealed to any business interested in the scheme to act very quickly. They were obviously aware that the funding was about to run out and wanted to make sure everyone got the help they needed. People were urged to apply before the vouchers ran out.

The broadband voucher scheme for SMB’s has been extremely popular. Over 40,000 businesses will now be able to benefit from much faster broadband connection speeds, and increased profitability as a result. The availability of high-speed internet connections is essential for businesses to be able to compete in a global market place.

Most of the vouchers had been issued to businesses in and around London. Other popular areas for the scheme include Humberside and Yorkshire. Although the voucher scheme has come to an end, there are plenty of other ways that businesses can boost their internet speeds and access high speed broadband internet.

Virgin Media have announced that they intend to give Manchester businesses a boost by upgrading broadband in the area. This is a massive expansion plan which is estimated to cost £75 million and it will do wonders for the local economy. The upgrade will see high speed broadband offered to thousands of businesses supported by a government backed campaign. The speeds can be as high as 1Gbps depending on the location and needs of the company.