Ben Green from This Is Fever
Ben Green from This Is Fever
Colchester-based business, This Is Fever were finding the broadband in their office increasingly unreliable. Average speeds of 20Mbps were limiting what the creative agency could do and delaying business growth. Ben Green, Co-Founder and Director of the company said, “Our ability to react to our customers' requirements directly impacts our service levels. Slow and unreliable access to the internet was one of our biggest weaknesses.”
After exploring various options which just weren’t working out for them, they came across a Colchester Borough Council (CBC) e-newsletter which mentioned the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS). Keen to future-proof their business, Ben decided to get in touch with CBC.
The GBVS is a government scheme aimed at increasing access to full fibre broadband networks. The scheme is aimed at businesses and residents, as long as the business is the main beneficiary. Individual businesses and group projects can claim up to £2,500 against the cost of connection.
With help from Steve Eke of CBC, and no extra cost on top of the voucher the whole process took around a year. There were a few challenges along the way. This Is Fever’s office was too far away from any network connection points and Openreach’s existing network had some collapsed ducts, which were going to be expensive to repair. The project team, consisting of Amphora Trading, Scotech and RioIT worked out a way of extending an aerial fibre across a council-owned car park and onto Fever’s building. This has in turn created a new connection point for other businesses and residents.
Steve Eke said, “The installation of Fever’s connection also created a new node for connecting future customers in the immediate vicinity. This has become a key principle of the network deployments undertaken by Colchester Amphora as CBC's network operator: all new connections must facilitate further connections and demonstrate value for money.”
With ultrafast speeds of 980Mbps, the Fever team is now able to video call their clients buffer-free and ensure their data is stored safely in the cloud. Uploading huge artwork files now takes seconds, giving them more time to pitch new clients and grow their business.
Ben said, “Full fibre has removed any barriers that we had. There is now a capacity to grow our business, without worrying about our internet connection.”
When asked what he would say to anyone else considering applying for the GBVS, Ben said: “I would say don’t hesitate, just do it! The transformation in speed and stability is so worth it.”