Gigabit Voucher Scheme Helps SMEs to Upgrade Their Broadband Activity

Nuco International, based at the Meriden Business Park on the edge of Coventry, are experiencing the benefits of gigabit capable speeds following the completion of their upgraded broadband connection, supported by the pilot of the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme in Coventry & Warwickshire.

Up until December 2017, the company had enjoyed download speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 40 Mbps with a full fibre cabinet sited on their business park with a copper connection from the cabinet to the business. This was more than enough for their IT needs until they decided to migrate to cloud-based Microsoft Office 365. It quickly became apparent that the increase in data traffic to and from the cloud had an impact on the speed of connectivity.

Nuco International’s IT & Project Manager, Mark Langan, contacted their local supplier, Glide (formerly WarwickNet) to enquire about an affordable solution that would be scalable and allow for further transitions to the cloud. Installation was complete by February 2018 and the £3,000 cost of the installation was paid through the gigabit voucher scheme (excluding the VAT).

He said: “We were already keen on upgrading our infrastructure to a full fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) connection but the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme made it a much more cost-effective solution. We’re now getting three times the speed for no extra cost.

The process of upgrading to full fibre to our office was relatively hassle free. The support team were on hand and sorted out everything within a day.”

Nuco International now enjoys ultrafast download speeds of 250 Mbps and upload speeds of 50 Mbps.  Mark added: “It’s allowed us to think about what else we can put in the cloud. The next thing we’re looking at is transferring our hosting servers so it’s great to have the option and the infrastructure in place. We’ve got an office in Hong Kong and, with operations continuing to grow, transitioning to the cloud will allow us to increase our scalability.”

The Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme now operates nationally and the Government has allocated £67 million for more businesses to benefit from vouchers worth up to £3,000. Businesses in Coventry & Warwickshire can access more details about the scheme by visiting www.coventry.gov.uk/broadband.