BROADBAND CONNECTION VOUCHER SCHEME Scheme Conditions

Transcription

1 BROADBAND CONNECTION VOUCHER SCHEME Scheme Conditions The purpose of the Broadband Connection Voucher scheme is to assist businesses and third sector organisations to meet the upfront capital costs of a high speed broadband connection to their premises. This guidance contains information on who is eligible to apply and the Terms and Conditions of the scheme. 1. Am I eligible to apply? To be eligible for voucher funding under the Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme: 1.1. You must be a Small or Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) as defined by the European Commission. Registered charities, social enterprises and sole traders that meet the SME criteria below are welcome to apply. You employ between 1 and 249 persons; You have an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million (around 41m); AND/OR You have an annual balance sheet total not exceeding 43 million (around 35.5m) If you are a start-up or pre-start-up business, you are eligible to apply as long as you have or can gain start-up approval from Business Gateway Edinburgh. Please contact for more information Your trading address must be located within The City of Edinburgh Council Local Authority Area OR be within 5 miles of the border with this area in any of the following local authority areas: Fife West Lothian Midlothian East Lothian You can check your postcode on our website to make sure that you are in an eligible area The address must be the trading address of your business. If you work from a residential property as your main business base you can still apply. If the postcode checker shows your postcode as ineligible and you believe this to be incorrect, please contact the project team at connectedcapital@edinburgh.gov.uk 1.3. If you are a tenant of a business park or a commercial property landlord, additionally you must have the approval of your landlord to proceed with the work. Ref: C. Scheme Conditions - 1 -

2 1.4. You have not already received public sector funding to improve the broadband connectivity of your property You must confirm that you have not received more than 200k (approximately 165k) in public funding over a three-year fiscal period. You will have been issued with a letter by any schemes that run telling you how much aid you have received. Please check the funding ceiling by finding more guidance at: This Regulation applies to aid granted to businesses in all sectors, with the exception of the list below. If your business/organization engages in any of the work below, you will not be eligible for funding through this scheme. Aid granted to businesses active in the fishery and aquaculture sectors Aid granted to businesses active in the primary production of agricultural products Aid granted to businesses active in the processing and marketing of agricultural products (in certain cases) Aid to export-related activities towards third countries or Member States Aid granted to businesses active in the coal sector Aid granted to businesses in difficulty If you are unsure, please take professional advice to ensure you are eligible Your business can not be in any of the following business sectors: Aquaculture; agriculture; coal; fisheries; education; and import and export agencies Your business must be financially viable at the time you apply and have no outstanding debts to The City of Edinburgh Council. 2. Terms and Conditions If you are offered a Connection Voucher, the following terms and conditions will apply. You should read them carefully and make sure you can agree to all of them. About my application: 2.1. You are responsible for providing all the information reasonably requested by the Connection Vouchers scheme, including any additional information that may be necessary for the purposes of processing your application or deciding on your voucher award amount. Ref: C. Scheme Conditions - 2 -

3 2.2. You are agreeing to provide evidence of your status as an organisation if requested. Documentation we will accept includes, but is not limited to: VAT registration; Charity Registration: HMRC notification; UTR number; certification of incorporation (Limited Companies); business bank account statement issued within the last three months; non-domestic rates reference. Other documentation, such as business-related utility bills, may be acceptable in special conditions if combined with other documentation Information submitted on applications forms to the voucher scheme will be shared with other associated organizations, for the purposes of processing the application. You will have the right to request to see personal information under data protection laws. Upon application, organizations will be registered with Business Gateway Edinburgh for administration purposes You must be willing to help us with promotion of the voucher scheme, including providing information for a case study and taking part in any evaluation surveys. About my connection: 2.5. You must install a broadband connection at your property that improves your current level of broadband connectivity above 30Mbps and ideally up to 100Mbps. There is no restriction on the type of technology (i.e. fixed or wireless) the supplier can use to provide you with the supply, so long as it is capable of offering the required speed. The voucher can be used by the Communications Provider (CP) to provide customers with a step change in service, which can be obtained either through: the provision of new superfast/ultrafast connectivity using NGA Networks (including the use of wired or wireless technologies) offering a minimum of 30Mbps+ (if your current NGA connection is >30Mbps then the new connection must offer at least a doubling of current speed) or, the provision of business grade connectivity (leased line capability/microwave) exhibiting minimum 20+Mbps speeds, upgradable to minimum 30+Mbps and deliver a doubling of speeds compared to the existing connection Vouchers are for one-off connection and set-up costs only. These costs must be reasonable and in line with current market estimates. Connection costs may include installation fees; external infrastructure equipment; excess construction charges and engineering works; and set-up and survey costs. We may ask your supplier to detail how the costs have been calculated Eligible network connection costs (for all types of connection) are: planning, survey, acquisition, site preparation, installation, and commissioning fees; provision of building entry points and (including breaking/drilling charges for entry through external and internal walls), trunking and tray work (within enduser s curtilage) and fibre cable and jointing; Ref: C. Scheme Conditions - 3 -

4 necessary supporting structures including poles and other mountings, brackets, fixings, and associated civil works (including craneage); power supplies equipment to support network electronics and optics, including power company connection costs, but excluding any CPE power supplies beyond an existing 240V AC socket; copper and fibre optic cables, sheaths, connectors, joints, splitters and enclosures, coaxial lines, copper waveguide, microwave feeders, jumpers, connectors, antenna radomes and enclosures, lighting protection devices, and electrical earthing systems; costs related to the purchase of wayleaves or other easement rights; and adapters/converters to ensure that all the pre-existing communications functionality is effectively maintained (e.g. adapters/converters for analogue telephones, dialup modems, alarm diallers or other devices that may contain embedded modems such as medical alarms) Eligible network connection costs (for fixed NGA only) are: provision of new footway and carriage boxes, poles and duct infrastructure; and CPE (e.g. Optical Network Terminal (ONT) or fibre modem), backup battery, patch panel and residential gateway and associated intermediate power and fibre communications cables) Eligible network connection costs (for wireless NGA only) are: provision of building location points (including all associated mounting costs); Radio Frequency (RF) connectors, splitters, combiners, duplexors, diplexors, filters, antennas, radomes and enclosures; External and in-building wireless repeaters if necessary for coverage; and fixed wireless CPE costs Eligible business connectivity (leased lines) connection costs (for fixed connections only) are: provision of new footway and carriage boxes, poles and duct infrastructure; costs related to the purchase of way leaves or other easement rights; and CPE (e.g. Optical Network Terminal (ONT) or fibre modem), backup battery, patch panel and residential gateway and associated intermediate power and fibre communications cables) Eligible business connectivity (leased lines) connection costs (for wireless connections only) are: provision of building location points (including all associated mounting costs); and wireless CPE costs The connection voucher cannot be used to cover SME connections to basic broadband technologies; additional charges for expedited connection e.g. time related charges (TRCs); cancellation fees for any pre-existing connection; cabling on the customer side of the CPE to support (e.g. in-premise installation of cat5e and RG6 coax cable) (except for multi-sme premises); inter-site connectivity; Ref: C. Scheme Conditions - 4 -

5 any of the network elements that may require upgrading to support the final connection e.g. middle mile/trunk, and core upgrades that are required to support the final connection; and operational expenditures and overheads (Opex), save for those that are direct incremental and one-off costs associated with the installation of the new highspeed / high-grade connection Only one voucher can be awarded per business to connect one property. This should be your registered office or trading address You will choose your service provider from the pre-qualified list of suppliers on our website. The contract of internet service provision you enter into with your service provider must be for a minimum of six months. If you wish to select a different supplier they will need to pre-register with the scheme before you can use them You must provide evidence of the successful installation of your broadband connection. Documentation we will accept is limited to a copy of your invoice from your service provider Vouchers can be used to recover (or part-recover) historic capital costs provided that: The capital costs have been demonstrably incurred by Registered Suppliers and represent only Eligible Costs as described within Appendix 2 of the Supplier Registration document; The capital costs have been incurred by Suppliers in anticipation of (but not dependent upon) winning the business of eligible SMEs and therefore being able to redeem these costs through the use of their connection voucher. These capital costs have been invested at full commercial risk since the commencement of the Scheme (7 December 2013). Such capital costs will be subject to the full provisions of the BDUK anti-fraud and value-for-money obligations as described within Section 3 of the Supplier Registration document. About payment of my voucher: Payment for vouchers will be made directly to your supplier, not to your business/organisation. You agree to send us the invoice provided by the supplier and we will make payment to them for up to the maximum voucher value, net of VAT All claims must not include VAT. You will need to pay your supplier directly for any VAT charged before making your claim Vouchers are awarded for connection costs of between minimum 100 and maximum 3,000. The Voucher offered will have a maximum value which you will be told at the time you apply. You can claim the actual cost of the connection or the voucher value, whichever is the lower. If the connection costs less than the voucher, you can only claim the actual cost. If the connection costs more than the voucher, you will be responsible for paying the difference to the supplier. The Connection Voucher scheme is not liable for any payment in excess of the maximum voucher amount. Ref: C. Scheme Conditions - 5 -

6 2.14. Computer and ICT equipment cannot be claimed for under the scheme You are responsible for paying the ongoing monthly charge to your supplier that cannot be claimed under the scheme You should not enter into contracts, commitments or expenditure prior to receiving a formal offer of a voucher. Anything you spend before the date of your voucher offer cannot be claimed back. General conditions: The City of Edinburgh Council is not liable for any loss or damage incurred as a result of participation in the Scheme Where incomplete, false or misleading information is given, the City of Edinburgh Council reserves the right to either decline the application or reclaim the voucher in full The City of Edinburgh Council is entitled to discontinue or vary the terms of the scheme at any time without notice There are a limited number of vouchers available at any time. The City of Edinburgh Council reserves the right to end the scheme at our discretion, when funds run out, or otherwise end the scheme in March 2015 or when advised by the UK government. Ref: C. Scheme Conditions - 6 -