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The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has tweaked the closure plan for their Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which gives suppliers (retail and network providers) a little bit more flexibility for some vouchers to be issued later than the current 31st March 2027 cut-off date.
The GBVS usually offers grants worth up to £4,500 to help both rural and some poorly served urban premises (homes and businesses) to get a gigabit-capable broadband (1Gbps) ISP service installed. This is available to areas that only have access to significantly slower than gigabit speeds – assuming there are also no near-term plans for a gigabit deployment in the same area (either via private investment or publicly subsidised).
However, back in early 2024 it was announced that the GBVS would be closed at the end of March 2028 (here), which in practice meant the final date vouchers could be issued to suppliers by BDUK was 31st March 2027 (i.e. this allows for the usual 12-month network build window to run its course).
The good news is that the government have now recognised that some suppliers might require additional time to recoup voucher subsidies against project spend. In response, ISPreview has spotted that BDUK will tweak the rules of the scheme to allow some vouchers to be issued beyond March 2027, but this will only be possible if the network operator can still complete the build by the original 2028 deadline and has a strong track record of delivery. Enough eligible premises must also remain for an exception to be considered viable and suppliers will need to agree to some new terms.
The move should help to ensure that the majority of remaining voucher builds are fully paid and completed, or as close to fully completed as possible, by the closure date. The GBVS has always been a bit of an awkward scheme for network operators to engage with, due in part to tedious admin processes and delays, but it has still helped many extra premises (140,000+ since 2021) to access a gigabit-capable broadband connection than might have otherwise been possible.
In theory, the government could still choose to extend the scheme beyond 2028, but we suspect they may end up adopting a different approach to help resolve any remaining gaps in gigabit connectivity after 2028. As it stands the GBVS is only available via a few suppliers and limited parts of the UK – (Birmingham and the Black Country, Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Greater London, Isle of Wight, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Norfolk, North East England, Scotland (Central and North) and Wales).