1 / 8

Rural Community Broadband Fund What’s available/ How to Apply

Rural Community Broadband Fund What’s available/ How to Apply. What is the RCBF?. The RCBF is a joint £20 million Defra and BDUK fund The RCBF will provide grants to communities located in hard to reach locations to establish superfast broadband (where need can be demonstrated)

hilliard
Download Presentation

Rural Community Broadband Fund What’s available/ How to Apply

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Rural Community Broadband FundWhat’s available/ How to Apply

  2. What is the RCBF? • The RCBF is a joint £20 million Defra and BDUK fund • The RCBF will provide grants to communities located in hard to reach locations to establish superfast broadband (where need can be demonstrated) • ‘Hard to reach’ as defined in Local Authority Local Broadband Plans - those areas that will not receive superfast broadband through the wider BDUK funded programme. • Superfast is defined as at least 24 - 30 megabits per second.

  3. Who Can Apply? • Community Enterprise, Trusts, Charities, Local Authorities (on behalf of communities), Local Partnerships, groups of businesses (that are beneficiaries, not Internet Service Providers) etc • The applicant will need to be a legal entity in order to enter into a Funding Agreement, and have its own resources in order to fund expenditure prior to claiming their approved grant • The applicant will need to demonstrate compliance with State Aid and public procurement rules

  4. What Can I Apply For? • A community can apply for funds to procure a network operator, or establish the equipment/ infrastructure required for a superfast internet service. • Wherever possible, the internet service established should be aligned with the infrastructure being established in the wider area (led by your Local Authority). • As a guide, there are two broad models to consider in developing an application; • Extending the Local Broadband Plan - Working with the Local Broadband Plan lead on Demand Aggregation, to extend the proposed 90% area infrastructure • Community Enterprise – Community establishes the required infrastructure building their own infrastructure and provide a service directly

  5. How Much Could I Apply For? • You can apply for up to 50% of the total cost of the project, with the remaining 50% required from private sources • No other public funding can be used as match • The maximum investment gap RCBF will support is £300 per premise • Projects may be considered that include more than 50% of the investment from private sources • As an example, match funding can be found from; • those who will receive the service committing to pay a connection charge • or committing to receive the service for a minimum period at a set cost, • or community investment • or from procured Network Operator committing funds to infrastructure/ service development.

  6. How do I apply? • The first stage is to complete and submit an Expression of Interest form to your local RDPE Delivery Team by the 31st January 2012. • To enable you to complete the Expression of Interest, including how to demonstrate the need/ demand for your project, you will need to complete the BDUK Community Data-book. • Following an assessment of the Expression of Interest, if your project is selected to proceed, you will be asked to complete a Full application form providing the detail of how your project will be delivered. • You will be notified if your Expression of Interest has been successful by the 29th February 2012.

  7. How will my EOI be assessed? • Your Expression of Interest will be scored against the following criteria; • Strategic Fit - located in a 10% hard to reach locations and solution fits with the County Local Broadband Plan • Value for Money – Does the project demonstrate good value for money? • Outcomes - Has the application established a clear basis for need/ demand for enhanced broadband services. How many people will benefit from the project? • Delivery - Is the proposed solution realistic and sustainable, and how does it fit with the broader superfast broadband infrastructure being established in the area. • Upland Priority Area- Is the project located in an Uplands area? Upland projects will be prioritised. • Community Engagement – is there evidence of community engagement and support for the project.

  8. Who to contact for more information? • The Expression of Interest Form, Guidance Handbook, and Community Broadband Toolkit will be available on www.rdpenetwork.defra.gov.uk/funding-sources/rural-community-broadband-fund

More Related