Businesses Can Now Benefit From Broadband Boost

April 7, 2015 by Mike

Businesses Can Now Benefit From Broadband Boost

Wednesday 8th April 2015

Businesses in Southend-on-Sea are now able to apply for grants of up to £3,000 each to boost their broadband connection as part of a national voucher scheme.

Each voucher covers up to £3,000 of installation costs but businesses can also apply as a group to connect bigger or more complicated premises. Once installed, businesses pay the line rental and VAT.

More than 12,000 vouchers have already been issued to businesses in other cities around the UK and small businesses in Southend-on-Sea are now able to apply, along with 27 other areas in the UK.

Scott Dolling, the council’s head of economy, regeneration and tourism, says: “This is fantastic news for Southend. We know how important a fast broadband connection is for businesses across the UK so we aredelighted that Southend-on-Sea has been announced as an extension to this scheme.

“We are open for business and this could benefit many small local companies that need to upgrade their technology which will improve the services they can offer and ultimately boost profits. We would encourage local businesses to take up the opportunity and apply for the funding which is now available.”

The benefits to businesses of improved broadband connections include:

• Increasing profits by offering better services to more satisfied customers.
• Improving customers’ experience with quicker, communication and faster file-sharing thanks to higher upload and download speeds, especially for large files.
• Reducing software and hardware costs by helping businesses switch to online data storage solutions.
• Enhancing the way businesses communicate and collaborate through online video conference and cloud-based information sharing.

Applying for a broadband grant is easy - all Southend-on-Sea based Businesses have to do is enter their postcode at www.connectionvouchers.co.uk to check eligibility, choose a supplier and fill in an application form or pick an off the shelf deal with no forms to fill in. Charities, not for profit organisations and commercial landlords can also apply.

Businesses can also visit www.southend.gov.uk/broadbandvouchers for further information on the scheme.