Wessex Full Fibre Broadband

Do you live in or near Barrow Lane, near the hall or Barrow Water Lane?

You can apply for grants towards installation:

• £2500 for businesses & self-employed 
• £500 for homes  

Want to speak to someone in person or need help with the online form?  

Drop into the village hall Monday 18th March between 7pm and 8pm and someone will be there to help or you can email cmvillagehall@gmail.com

Background

Wessex Internet installed a solution for superfast broadband which we know many people in the village have signed up to in the last 3 years. This delivers a great service of up to 30 – 50Mb/s. We had a subsidy from Connecting Devon & Somerset which covered the infrastructure and installation of the new service.

The government has launched a scheme for 1) businesses to claim £2,500 towards the installation of FIBRE internet direct to premises giving very high speeds and 2) some home connections for which £500 may be claimed towards a FIBRE connection direct to the house. This government money is available on a first come first served basis.

The more people we can get signed up the better since this will help ‘future proof’ the internet access for your homes and businesses and our community. 

What is the difference between “superfast” and FIBRE broadband?

Fibre internet direct to premises, which gives speeds of over 100Mb/s and up to 350Mb/s, (superfast is up to 30 – 50Mb/s) but requires a direct cable to your house. Fibre is the future of internet delivery as it is significantly quicker than the old way of delivering down copper telephone lines.  It travels at the speed of light so the speeds over time will increase from the current maximum of 350Mb/s.  Some specialist providers are already supplying speeds of 1 Gb/s (this is roughly 1,000 times faster than our old internet here in the village before the current Wessex solution came along!)

How do I claim the £2500 government subsidy if I am a business in Charlton Musgrove?

If you have a small business, or are self-employed, rent property or simply complete tax self-assessment, you can apply here for the voucher:

https://www.wessexinternet.com/gv/  and complete business in the box and answer the questions. 

The cost to the business or self-employed individual is £ 600 as they have to pay the VAT, which may, in some cases, be reclaimed.

How do I claim the £500 government subsidy if I have a home in the Barrow Scheme?

If you live in Barrow Lane, Barrow Water Lane, and around the village hall you are likely to be able to claim the £500 voucher towards a residential fibre connection. 

https://www.wessexinternet.com/gv/   tick residential and answer the questions. Put N/A in any boxes that ask questions about business.

Why is this fibre connection in so important?

It will future proof our internet connection to our homes. Some of our neighbours have been unable to take up the older Wessex superfast offer. As they are not in direct line of sight of the mast, normally due to trees. This new option is particularly important for them.  They need our extra support to get the numbers needed so the 77 homes in the Barrow Scheme can get the go ahead.

Now or Never?

The parishes of Charlton Musgrove and Brewham are not included in any of planned future phases of the ‘Connecting Devon & Somerset’ Superfast broadband programme. This means that our properties will not benefit from any upgrade in infrastructure and are unlikely ever get fibre installed. 

How do I know if my property in the 77 houses in the Barrow scheme?

Barrow Lane, Barrow Water Lane, homes near the village hall, and most homes with the following post code: BA9 8HF, BA9 8HG, BA9 8HH, BA9 8HJ, BA9 8HP, BA9 8HQ, BA9 8HW, BA9 8HN.

What about the numbers?

It is really helpful to know if you have made an application so we can keep track of the numbers of successful grants. We need a mixture of home and businesses to apply. 

What about other areas of Charlton Musgrove?

We understand the scheme in Southmarsh and most of Rectory Lane is now secure and business and residents in these areas will be connected to the Wessex Fibre Service. 

Why is the village hall involved?

The hall is one of the properties the Barrow scheme.  The hall charity has applied for a voucher for fibre internet, which we see will become an essential requirement for people and ‘venues’ in the future.  The village hall trustees have always felt fast internet speed is essential. 

What are the timescales?

At this stage, we don’t believe all of the landowners have been approached. The first step is to get the required volume of sign ups, we can then have a better view on how Wessex will proceed.

Declaration of interest- Why are we involved in promoting this scheme? 

We are all trustees of the village hall, Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer. We are all also existing customers of Wessex but will make no financial gain from this scheme. The village hall receives it connection almost free and will continue to do so if fibre is installed. 

Kelvin Moore, Charles Hall, Sue Parroy via the village hall e-mail cmvillagehall@gmail.com

The village hall FIBRE broadband team