Slow speeds of 11 Mbps were making it increasingly harder for Ben Higgs and his Apple product refurbishment business, Hoxton Macs. “The slow and asymmetrical speed of ADSL was affecting our ability to communicate with customers over our VOIP phone system and made troubleshooting with screen sharing impossible,” said Ben.
Having heard about the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) previously, Ben and his team agreed to explore the scheme and started by getting some quotes from various suppliers. 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.
At no extra cost on top of the voucher, a few months later Hoxton Macs was connected to full fibre by broadband supplier, Daisy Group. From first contact to full installation, the process was relatively simple as there was a line installed already. Full fibre broadband (also known as fibre to the premises or ultrafast broadband) is a pure fibre connection which runs directly from an exchange to the property.
Using the GBVS has provided Hoxton Macs with ultrafast broadband speeds of 300Mbps. Ben said the team can now upload large files in seconds and share screens with customers remotely. Their data is stored safely in the cloud and customer service has been improved tenfold.
Ben said, “We have to download software, so the whole workflow has been improved and we can refurbish more machines per day. Now we can expand the business and hire extra employees. It's really transformed the business.”
When asked what he would say to anyone else considering applying for the GBVS, Ben said: “I'd highly recommend the GBVS, there are no drawbacks. Barely any paperwork and just a click of the button.”