Small to medium sized businesses in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders are being reminded that there is still time to apply for vouchers, which could connect them to superfast broadband. The scheme has helped 442 businesses in Edinburgh with superfast connections so far. To date there has been a lot of interest in the scheme and businesses are encouraged to apply before funds run out.

Funding for the project is part of the UK Government’s £150 million super connected cities programme being delivered locally by City of Edinburgh Council.

Vouchers are awarded to businesses to help cover the installation costs of connecting to superfast broadband services up to the value of £3,000. Businesses pay the VAT costs and the ongoing subscription. To qualify for a voucher, organisations should be small to medium sized located in the City of Edinburgh Council area, have fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than £40m. Further information and an application form can be found here.

Cllr Frank Ross, Convener of the Economy Committee, said: “The vouchers will provide much needed financial assistance to small to medium sized businesses in the city who don’t already have a fast connection. We have worked hard to secure this opportunity for local businesses and I would strongly recommend those without a fast connection apply for a voucher as high grade broadband is more reliable, faster and it will make your business more efficient and competitive.”

Further information

• The voucher scheme is part of the City of Edinburgh Council’s Connected Capital Programme, which aims to improve Edinburgh’s broadband connectivity. Follow on Twitter @connectedinburg.
• Businesses in Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders areas can access the vouchers through the Edinburgh scheme
• In the vast majority of cases the voucher should cover the total installation cost but where it doesn’t, businesses will have to cover the difference themselves.
• Edinburgh’s Connected Capital Programme is part of the£150m Super Connected Cities Programme which is being delivered through Broadband Delivery UK, which is part of the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Other projects forming part of the Connected Capital Programme are an outdoor wireless network delivered though a service concession contract, wireless hotspots in a number of public buildings. Wi-fi on the trams and buses is already in place

Superfast broadband is defined as speed of at least 30 Megabytes per Second (Mbps) and ultrafast is defined 80 to 100+ Mbps.