Ultrafast Broadband Speeds Down the M5 Corridor
22nd March, 2021
The ongoing infrastructure project to build a new gigabit capable full fibre broadband network in rural Gloucestershire has ramped up in communities around the M5.
Read Full StoryAbout Us
Fastershire is a partnership between Herefordshire Council and Gloucestershire County Council to bring faster broadband to the two counties, with funding from central government’s Broadband Delivery UK matched by the local authorities. The ultimate aim is that by the end of 2022 there will be access to fast broadband for all who need it.
However, Fastershire is not only about technology, the project also includes social and digital inclusion activities, and an extensive business support programme, FasterBusiness. The programme is designed to help small and medium size businesses get the most from fibre broadband and be more competitive. In fact, it is expected that Fastershire will help to boost the local economy by £420m over the next ten years.
Fastershire will revolutionise the way that people of all ages across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire work, learn and play, and will benefit generations to come.
The Rollout
Phase 2 of the Fastershire rollout of faster broadband across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire will be based around four areas (area 1, 2, 3(A-E) & 4) and will comprise of premises that were not covered by Phase 1 or commercial rollout.
Each went through its own consultation and procurement process to secure a supplier to carry out the deployment.
- Area 1: The Cotswolds
- Area 2: The Forest of Dean
- Area 3A: Cheltenham and Gloucester
- Area 3B: Hereford
- Area 3C: South Herefordshire and Gloucestershire (west of the Severn)
- Area 3D: North Gloucestershire
- Area 3E: South Gloucestershire
- Area 4: North Herefordshire
Area 1: Cotswolds
Gigaclear was awarded the contract to deliver phase 2 in the Cotswolds in summer 2015. The first digging for our delivery of ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises to parts of the Cotswolds began in October 2015 and is now complete.
The rollout covered areas of Andoversford, Bibury, Bourton On The Water, Cirencester, Coberley, Coln St.Aldwyn, Cricklade, Fairford, Fossebridge, Guiting Power, Kemble, Kempsford, Lechlade, Miserden, North Cerney, Northleach, Poulton, South Cerney, Southrop, Stow-On-The-Wold, Windrush and Withington not upgraded to faster broadband in Phase 1.
Area 2: Forest of Dean
We have awarded a contract to Gigaclear to deliver the phase 2 rollout in parts of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the Golden Valley in Herefordshire not upgraded to faster broadband in Phase 1.
Area 3(A-E) & 4: The rest of the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire
Area 3A-B (Cheltenham and Gloucester) and area 3B (Hereford)
Area 3(C-E) & 4: The rest of the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire
We have awarded a contract to Gigaclear to deliver the phase two rollout in these areas not upgraded to faster broadband in Phase 1.
- Area 3C (South Herefordshire)
- Area 3D (North Gloucestershire)
- Area 3E (South Gloucestershire)
- Area 4 (North Herefordshire)
To find out if your property is included in this next phase of rollout please use our address checker at the top of the page.
Fastershire Strategy
Phase 1 of the Fastershire strategy has provided approximately 90% of the homes and businesses across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire with access to superfast broadband and speeds of 30Mbps or above.
Over the next two years, phase 2 of the project’s strategy will increase total superfast coverage to around 98%, as phase 2 seeks to provide faster broadband to premises that were not covered by Phase 1 or commercial rollout.
Phase 2
Stage 3 – Hereford, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham
Stage 3 of the Fastershire rollout sees BT continuing to deliver in Hereford, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham and build on their commercial deployment.
Stage 3 - Rural Herefordshire and Gloucestershire
Gigaclear has been awarded the Fastershire delivery contract for rural areas of the county.
Gigaclear is a wholesale network provider and internet service provider (ISP) who specialise in connecting rural communities by installing its pure fibre network straight into the property.
Pure fibre, also known as Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) offers a more future-proof solution and broadband speeds of up to 1000Mbps. This technology is not affected by how far your home is from the network cabinet and the connection is symmetric so you get the same upload and download speeds.
Stage 4
For the remaining, hardest to reach properties, Fastershire is using a mix of solutions, including a bespoke grants and contract extensions.
Business Grant
Fastershire, in partnership with Connecting Shropshire and Superfast Telford and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, have designed the Marches and Gloucestershire Broadband Grant.
The grant provides up to 100% of the capital installation cost for an eligible SME that not be included in Fastershire’s main rollout and that can demonstrate the economic return.
Viable Clusters
Fastershire has been awarded funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and has identified a number of significant property clusters that could benefit from this funding.
Contract Extensions
For the remaining properties, Fastershire will be exploring possible contract extensions with BT and Gigaclear to provide access to faster broadband.
Stage 5 Fastershire Community Broadband Grant
The new Stage 5 will offer grants on a property basis to individuals and businesses to procure their own Gbps capable broadband solutions from a selected range of suppliers.
Grants will be provided as follows:
- Individual grants will be offered to eligible business premises up to £25,000 via the second phase of the Marches and Gloucestershire business Broadband Grant (MGBG)
- Fastershire Community Broadband Grant grants for residential and commercial buildings that are not eligible for ERDF funding
To read more about the plans please download the full strategy, please click here.
Events
18
May 2021
Fastershire Community Meeting - Almeley
Fastershire and Gigaclear are hosting a community meeting to explain the rollout of ultrafast fibre broadband in network build area, Almeley.
Location: Online Meeting
Date: Tuesday 18th May 2021
Time: 18:30-19:30
More
24
May 2021
Fastershire Community Meeting - Thornbury
Fastershire is hosting a community meeting for properties in and around Thornbury. Invitation letters have been sent to the relevant properties and the meeting aims explain how the Stage 5 Community Broadband Grant Scheme will work in more detail.
Location: Online Meeting
Date: Monday 24th May 2021
Time: 18:30-19:30
More
25
May 2021
Fastershire Community Meeting
Fastershire and Gigaclear are hosting a community meeting to explain the rollout of ultrafast fibre broadband in network build areas, Highfield Lydney, Newerne Lydney, Tutnalls Lydney and Highfield Road Lydney
Location: Online Meeting
Date: Tuesday 25th May 2021
Time: 18:30-19:30
More
26
May 2021
Fastershire Community Meeting - Bredenbury
Fastershire is hosting a community meeting for properties in and around Bredenbury. Invitation letters have been sent to the relevant properties and the meeting aims explain how the Stage 5 Community Broadband Grant Scheme will work in more detail.
Location: Online Meeting
Date: Wednesday 26th May 2021
Time: 18:30-19:30
More
27
May 2021
Fastershire Community Meeting - Tretire and Three Ashes
Fastershire is hosting a community meeting for properties in Tretire and Three Ashes. Invitation letters have been sent to the relevant properties and the meeting aims explain how the Stage 5 Community Broadband Grant Scheme will work in more detail.
Location: Online Meeting
Date: Thursday 27th May 2021
Time: 18:30-19:30
More
8
Jun 2021
Fastershire Community Meeting - Walwyn Road & Colwall Stone
Fastershire and Gigaclear are hosting a community meeting to explain the rollout of ultrafast fibre broadband in network build areas, Walwyn Road and Colwall Stone.
Date: Tuesday 8th June 2021
Time: 18:30-19:30
More
16
Jun 2021
Fastershire Community Meeting - Richard's Castle
Fastershire and Gigaclear are hosting a community meeting to explain the rollout of ultrafast fibre broadband in network build area, Richard's Castle.
Location: Online Meeting
Date: Wednesday 16th June 2021
Time: 18:30-19:30
MoreLatest News
Fastershire Community Broadband Grant Scheme Successfully Launches
19th March, 2021
The first funding awards for the new the Fastershire Community Broadband Grant have been made in recent months. This heralds a major step towards finishing the job of providing fibre broadband across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
Read Full Story
Faster broadband provides boost to a television production company in north Herefordshire
6th January, 2021
Vicarious Productions, a film and television production facility based in Edvin Loach, is one of 400 premises in hard-to-reach communities who have gone from being among the worst connected areas in the UK to having access to some of the fastest internet in the country.
Read Full Story
Gigabit broadband is coming to Hereford
16th October, 2020
Hereford is set to become one of the UK's fastest cities under new plans announced. Zzoomm, the 100% Full Fibre broadband network operator, has announced that it plans to serve over 28,000 homes and businesses in Hereford.
Read Full Story
Ultrafast broadband is coming to Ledbury
1st October, 2020
Fastershire and Gigaclear are set to begin the rollout of a new ultrafast broadband network in Ledbury. The rollout is part subsidised by Fastershire, however, the majority of the new network in Ledbury is a result of a significant commercial investment by Gigaclear.
Read Full Story
Airband fast-tracking fibre roll-out
13th August, 2020
Hundreds more homes in Herefordshire will have access to ultrafast fibre broadband by September this year as internet service provider Airband ramps up delivery speeds.
Read Full Story
Primary School Filmmaking Competition 2018
We're inviting Primary Schools across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to take part in our filmmaking challenge to create a short film about internet.
Schools are required to produce a 30-60 second film to showcase positive use of the internet and can be an advert, comedy, documentary, ‘how to guide’ or news report.
The competition is designed to help demonstrates the benefits of the internet but also to provide an opportunities for children to use the internet as a learning tool, to search and accesses online resources to help them plan and produce their film.
The films will be uploaded to the Fastershire website and the film with the most views wins £200 for their school.
The 2017 Winner - Walford Primary School, Herefordshire
Register
To
take part in the FasterSchools filmmaking competition 2018, please complete the
online registration form and return to info@fastershire.com.
Online Resources
To help you get started we've compiled some useful resources and 'how to' videos.
Into Film
Into Film is an Education charity that offers support to teachers and educators to achieve a wide range of effective learning outcomes in their use of film.
Their website offers free resources about all elements of film making, by age and topic.
Young Film Academy
Young Film Academy helps over 7,500 young people each year complete their first films across the UK and is an official London delivery partner for the BFI Film Academy.
How to? Storyboard
How to? Sound
How to? Direct
How to? Structure
How to? Light
How to? Edit
How to? Health and Safety
How to? Camera
Faster Schools
As young people now grow up using laptops, tablets and smartphones as if they were second nature, we would like to help them share their skills by teaching a family member how to use the internet.
Fastershire can run competitions with schools across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to encourage students to teach a member of their family the basics of using the internet. At the end of the teaching, the student and the person being taught will be asked to write about the experience and what they've got out of it, and the student will submit this as an entry to the competition.
You can download PDFs of our training guides to use in training sessions or for your own learning...
Your set-up
Internet basics
Everyday help
Keeping in touch
Your family
Services and support
Media and entertainment
Money and shoppingBetter Broadband Scheme
The Government's Better Broadband Scheme aims to help provide access to a basic broadband service that will offer download speeds of at least 10 Mbps.
The Better Broadband Scheme, developed by the UK government, provides a voucher worth up to £350 for basic broadband installation to homes and businesses that will not benefit from superfast broadband.
The eligibility criteria for the scheme is as follows;
- Your current broadband download capacity is below 2Mbps
- There are no alternative affordable broadband services available to you which would provide a download speed of at least 2Mbps
- There are no plans to provide superfast broadband to your location (To see if your property is included in Fastershire’s rollout, please use the website address above)
For more information or to apply, please visit the Government's Better Broadband Scheme website.
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Fastershire Community Broadband Grant
Fastershire Community Broadband Grant
The Fastershire Community Broadband Grant is targeting the final 3-4% of properties in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire that still require access to a superfast broadband of 30mbps or more.
Who funds the scheme?
The scheme is entirely funded by Herefordshire Council and Gloucestershire County Council and designed to help find a solution specific for each community.
Fastershire will fund up to a maximum of £500,000 per community project.
What does the scheme aim to provide?
The purpose of the grant is to provide these properties with access to superfast connection (30mbps or above), but the scheme will only invest in networks that are capable of providing access to gigabit connections (1,000mbps) so community projects that are successful will have access to Fibre to the Property.
In some cases, the solution may mean using a new supplier or different technology to reach a deeply rural community, or to extend an existing network further to reach outlying properties that were too expensive to connect in previously.
Who is eligible for the scheme?
Any property in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, either residential or business that;
- Is listed in our address data
- Cannot access a superfast connection (30mbps or above)
- Is not included in a planned commercial rollout
- Is not included in one of Fastershire’s on-going rollout contracts the Openreach, Gigaclear or Airband.
- Has not already benefitted from a Fastershire grant
How to register
To see if your property is eligible for the Stage 5 Community Broadband Grant, please use the address checker above. If your property is eligible the address checker will display the Expression of Interest form.
How does the grant scheme work?
Step 1: Individual residents and businesses will submit their Expression of Interest
Step 2: When there is sufficient interest from an area, Fastershire will bring these requests together to form a ‘community’ project
Step 3: Fastershire will support the ‘community’ to develop the formal ‘Request for Quotation’ (RFQ) which will be published on the grant’s online procurement portal
Step 3: Broadband network suppliers will then have 28days to view the RFQ and submit bids for the contract
Step 4: Fastershire will evaluate any received quotes and will make a formal recommendation to the community
Step 5: The contract will be specific to that community and will be awarded by the community to the chosen supplier
Stage 6: When the network is built, Fastershire will release payment to the supplier when community members confirm the network has been delivered and they are able to place their broadband order
To see if your property can register for the stage 5 grant, please use the address checker function above.
96,516 Faster homes & 
99
exchange areas 
7,000 km of 
621
cabinets 
