Get set up with 4G or 5G broadband for free in Wales

These days, as ever more of our work and personal lives involve spending time online, having access to good broadband is becoming an essential and having slow internet connectivity is a major disadvantage. And that's precisely why the Welsh Assembly has put in place its Access Broadband Cymru (ABC) Scheme.

This grant scheme gives immediate assistance to any home or business anywhere within Wales which cannot currently access a superfast broadband service (that's one running at 30 Mbps or more). It does this by providing a subsidy towards the costs of installing a better broadband connection.

Grants issued under the ABC Scheme should entirely cover the set-up costs of installing much improved broadband delivered via 4G, wireless or satellite for all homes and businesses which are currently stuck with slower broadband speeds.

By boosting the broadband speed for households, the Access Broadband Cymru Scheme will enable families to take advantage of all online facilities, including working from home, staying in touch via video calling, utilising on-demand TV, streaming movies and so on. The scheme also caters for businesses and local start-ups, which will be enabled to communicate with both existing and potential clients, check up on orders and stay up to date with market trends much more efficiently.

Checking to see if a property is likely to be eligible for an ABC Grant is a very simple process.

All you need to do is to check to see if your property is already able to receive a superfast broadband service from an existing Internet Service Provider. You can do this via Ofcom's Broadband Coverage Checker.

Then if you're told that a superfast (30+ Mbps) broadband service is not available at your location, you should qualify for an ABC Grant.

You can find full details on eligibility and the ABC scheme in general on the Welsh Assembly's ABC website.

1. If you believe your home or business meets the eligibility criteria, it's quick and easy to apply for an ABC Grant online via the ABC Application Portal. When first applying, you will need something called a Sign On Cymru (or SOC) login. You may already have one of these, but if not, don't worry. You can register for a SOC login.
2. Once logged into the ABC Application Portal, you will be able to apply for the scheme. The only information you'll need to enter at this time are the installation address details which must include the post code. If you are a business, enterprise or a third sector organisation you will also need your VAT Registration Number (if you have one) and you will also need to confirm your MFA status.
3. Your application will be reviewed and if everything's ok, you'll be sent a Formal Offer of Funding letter within 20 days to confirm that the equipment, installation and set-up of a new superfast broadband service will be covered under the ABC Scheme up to a total value of £800.
   
   You'll need to confirm your acceptance of that offer through the same ABC Application Portal and the Grant must be used within three months of your acceptance.
4. You then select a provider that operates under the ABC scheme. If you'd like to choose us as your new faster broadband provider, we need to check to see if your property is covered by our superfast 4G or ultrafast 5G broadband services. So either fill out the brief form at the top of this webpage, drop us an email at admin@national-broadband.co.uk or give us a call on 03333 447700 letting us know your full 7 digit postcode.
5. We'll then be able to check 4G and 5G coverage at your exact location - and these days over 98% of all UK home and business premises already are sufficiently covered at least by 4G, including very rural and remote properties.
   
   And don't worry if your smartphone only shows flaky 4G or 5G reception - because as standard we install a high gain outdoor antenna, which latches onto available 4G and/or 5G signals, amplifies them and then pipes them down to a 4G or 5G router we'll fit inside your property.
6. Once we've confirmed to you that your property is within either 4G or 5G coverage, just send us a copy of the Formal Offer of Funding letter you'll have received and we'll do all the rest - and getting you up and running on superfast 4G or ultrafast 5G broadband typically takes us no more than a couple of weeks.
7. Once your new broadband service has been made live, the final thing you'll need to do is to prove to the Welsh Assembly that your new broadband service has been installed and is performing to the parameters specified.
   
   You do this by sending in a copy of the invoice that we'll have sent you in relation to the installation and set-up of your new 4G or 5G broadband service, plus a copy of a speed test from a website like www.speedtest.net showing how your new service is performing. Upon receipt, the Welsh Assembly will then make payment to us on your behalf against that invoice and everything's then completed.

Please note that Step 7 above is really important! If you don't send the required supporting documents into the Welsh Government after your service has been made live, then under the ABC Grant Scheme rules you yourself will be fully liable to pay off that invoice for the supply, installation and set-up of equipment.

So... don't forget!

We at National Broadband are an appointed supplier to the Access Broadband Cymru Subsidy Scheme. We're delighted to have helped numerous homes and businesses across the entirety of Wales - including rural Wales - by providing them with a much faster and more stable 4G broadband service under the ABC Scheme and we look forward to providing much faster internet connections to even more properties.

The Access Broadband Cymru Scheme is available to any residential or commercial property that cannot currently access superfast (30+ Mbps) broadband speeds anywhere within the whole of Wales.

If you choose us as your Internet Service Provider under the ABC Scheme, the subsidy covers the entire costs of getting set up with our 4G or 5G broadband service. This includes:-

• Supply and installation of a top-spec 4G or 5G router inside your property.
• Supply and installation of a small but very effective 4G/5G antenna to the outside of your property.
• Activation of your new 4G or 5G broadband service.

The normal cost of all the above totals £399 inc VAT for 4G broadband or £519 inc VAT for 5G broadband.

One of the carefully chosen routers we supply will be fully set up and installed for you. This provides full WiFi functionality - so you can share your new faster connection across multiple internet-enabled devices within your property.

Our professional installers will also fit a small high gain and directional external 4G/5G antenna to the outside of your property to ensure that you get the best possible 4G or 5G signal reception and thus optimum performance of the service.

Please note that the offer of zero-cost installation does not give any applicant the right to specify a mounting location for the outdoor antenna. Although applicants' preferences will be taken into account if feasible, we will always install the outdoor antenna at the position which delivers the best broadband performance. Government funding will specifically not cover any additional costs involved in a more complex or expensive installation location that is being requested on purely aesthetic grounds.

In terms of start-up costs, if yours is a residential or business property that qualifies for the subsidy and you choose us as your new broadband provider, the answer is… nothing at all. The full costs of getting started with either our superfast 4G or ultrafast 5G broadband service will be fully covered by your ABC Grant.

The only charge you'll pay is the normal monthly subscription cost of our broadband service. That starts from as little as £33.99 inc VAT per month for personal accounts and £35.00 plus VAT per month for business accounts.

Unlike traditional landline-based broadband services, broadband delivered over either a 4G or 5G network is a wireless service that does not rely on physical phonelines or cables to reach your property.

When it comes to performance, the speeds achievable with 4G or 5G broadband are dependent upon local factors specific to each individual location. However, when measured across the entire UK, 4G broadband performance averages at around 35 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. 5G broadband is considerably faster, nearer 150 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload.

You can find more information on both 4G and 5G broadband here.

If you have already been issued with a Formal Offer of Funding letter under the Access Broadband Cymru Scheme and you've already accepted it, just drop us an email at admin@national-broadband.co.uk with your name and contact details. If you can attach a scanned copy of your funding letter to that email, that'd really help to speed things up, because we will need to see a copy of this before being able to get you online.

We'll then get in touch with you as soon as possible to discuss which of our monthly 4G or 5G packages would suit you best, process your order once you're happy and then arrange installation of your new internet service.

Or if you'd rather, just call us on 03333 447700 and we'll talk you through everything and help you get online as fast as possible.