Fibre Community Partnership
Partner with us to get faster Ultrafast Full Fibre
broadband to you and your community
We're pausing registrations due to high demand
We’re proud that our Fibre Community Partnership (FCP) programme is helping to connect people all over the country.
It’s proven extremely popular and we've now upgraded more than 2050 communities. In the last few months we've seen demand soar and we're temporarily pausing new registrations (in GB only) while we work through current requests.
Don't worry though, simply register your interest in Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband by entering your details in our checker below, and we'll keep you up to date on build progress in your area, and let you know as and when we resume registrations in your community.
Register my interest in Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband
What would Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband give me and my community?
Next generation Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband is our fastest and most reliable broadband. At 1 Gbps it's up to 10 times faster than the average home broadband speed, which means you and your family have the freedom to work, game, stream, and chat all at once, without skipping a beat. It also comes with the option of a future-proof digital phone line so you and your community will be ready to meet all the demands of our increasingly digital world.
What is a Fibre Community Partnership?
A Fibre Community Partnership is how we offer a Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband to areas which aren't part of our current rollout plans. We work with the local community to arrange a customised installation plan - whether it's installing new fibre for the first time, or to upgrade existing connections.
Why partner with Openreach?
We've already delivered fibre broadband to thousands of homes and businesses across the UK through our Fibre Community Partnership programme.
We'll help you with joint funding arrangements, which means the costs are spread between Openreach, Government voucher schemes and your community. We’ll then build the most affordable solution that also meets your needs.
Our Ultrafast Full Fibre Broadband network is the UK's largest network. It uses the most advanced fibre technology and, because it's an open network, offers maximum choice and value - so you’ll be able to choose from any of the service providers in your area and get the package that suits you best.
How you can partner with us
There are three ways of funding a Fibre Community Partnership - check your postcode to register and we'll help you find out which would be the best fit:
- Voucher Funded – using UK Government funding from the Department of Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
- Community Funded - co-funded by the community and Openreach
- Community and Voucher Funded - using a combination of DCMS vouchers and co-funding by the community and Openreach.
Voucher funded Fibre Community Partnership
Under the UK Gigabit Voucher scheme, being run by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), every eligible rural home, small business and sole trader can get can a voucher. Eligible homes can get a voucher worth up to £1,500, and eligible small businesses and sole traders can get up to £3,500. The vouchers are free, but Government terms and conditions apply.
How do I know if my community could get vouchers?
If you express an interest in a Fibre Community Partnership, we can get in touch when we resume Fibre Community Partnership registrations for your area. Once you’ve registered, we’ll review your community and let you know if the addresses you’ve listed meet the criteria for DCMS funding. We'll also let you know if your community is eligible for a fully voucher funded scheme. This means that if all the listed addresses pledge and validate their vouchers and have Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband installed the value of the vouchers paid by the DCMS would cover the costs in full. Your community wouldn't have to pay a penny more.
Once we know your community is eligible, we’ll put in a funding application to the DCMS on your behalf. When this is has been secured, we'll create an online portal for your community to pledge their vouchers and share the link with you at the right point in the process.
What your community would need to do and when
Your community would then have three months to achieve the target number of pledged and validated vouchers required to cover the cost of the network build. This means it's important to involve as many people in the community as possible - the more people involved, the more funding is available towards the pledge target.
The Pledging Process
Pledging your vouchers couldn’t be easier. Just go to the online portal built for your community, type in your postcode and complete a short form with your personal details.
By pledging your voucher you're agreeing to the Pledge terms and conditions.
Hitting the community target
After three months the pledges will be reviewed to see whether the target is likely to be reached. This means that if your community is eligible for vouchers it’s important to come together, and pledge your vouchers as soon as possible.
Keeping your voucher application on track
We'll only share your details with the DCMS as part of your voucher application, and they'll use them to communicate with you at key stages of the process. They will ask you to validate your pledge and to confirm when your service has been installed.
Communications from the DCMS will be sent from the following email address: gigabit.vouchers@notifications.service.gov.uk. Please respond to these to keep your voucher application on track.
Building the network
If the pledged and validated vouchers hit the target set out, we'll then go ahead with planning and building Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband for your community. However, if the value of the pledges doesn’t cover the cost of the build the scheme may not proceed.
Placing your order
Once the network has been built everyone who pledged their voucher will need to place an order for Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband and confirm when their service has been installed to the DCMS. Only then will the funds be released to Openreach.
If a pledging resident or business decides not to place an order for any reason then they may be liable for the value of their voucher as per the pledge terms.
Community funded Fibre Community Partnership
If you’re not eligible for Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) funding via the Government's Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, your community can still come together and explore a co-funded full fibre option with us.
With our help, arranging a Fibre Community Partnership with Openreach couldn't be easier. We'll work with you to provide costs for delivering Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband to your Community.
Once funding is arranged, a Legal Entity for the community will need to be formed and enter into a contract with Openreach.
Community and Voucher funded Fibre Community Partnership
Occasionally a combination of Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Gigabit Broadband vouchers and community raised funds is needed to fund the network build.
This can come about because not all of the properties in the area are eligible for vouchers or because too few DCMS vouchers have been pledged.
We’ll be there to support both you and the community at this stage - we'll answer any questions and make sure that the community’s voucher application goes through and is ready to go once the network is live.
You'll also need to create a Legal Entity and enter into a contract with Openreach so that you’re in a position to pay the funding shortfall.
Partner with us - you'll be in safe hands
1,470
Communities provided with Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband by partnering with us
123,000
Homes and businesses can get Fibre broadband thanks to their Fibre Community Partnership
£82m
Of Government Gigabit vouchers committed by 1350 communities to bring fibre to their homes and businesses
Fibre Community Partnership - Step by step guide
Check your postcode and express your interest
Check your postcode and express your interest
Enter your postcode into the postcode checker above to see if your area's already in our plans to roll our Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband.
If you’re not currently in our plans for Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband, then a Fibre Community Partnership could be a good alternative. Just register your interest with us through the fibre checker and we'll get in touch as soon as we resume the Fibre Community Partnership programme.
Get local support
Get local support
Once you've registered we'll review your community and let you know what type of partnership would be a good fit. We'll also take you through the next steps that you'll need to take.
It's important to remember that, no matter what type of partnership is best for your community, they all rely on local backing. Talk to your neighbours and local businesses about the benefits of fibre broadband and start drumming up support. We’ll provide some advice on how to do this.
Voucher funded partnership
Voucher funded partnership
In this scheme, your community need to pledge and then validate their vouchers within three months. If not enough vouchers are pledged and validated to cover the costs of the build a voucher-funded partnership may be bought to a halt.
It’s important to make your community aware that they should only pledge their voucher if they intend to buy an Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband service one the build is complete. They will need to validate their pledge and confirm when their service has been installed for the Government to release the value of the voucher to Openreach.
If a pledging resident or business decides not to place an order for any reason then they may be liable for the value of their voucher as per the pledge terms.
Partnerships involving community funding
Partnerships involving community funding
For partnerships involving any community funding we’ll estimate the cost of bringing full fibre to your area. We’ll cover some of the costs and also take into account any voucher funding that your community may be eligible for. The price we estimate for you will be what we call ‘the gap’ - this just means it's the amount your community will need to pay, as opposed to the total cost.
You’ll now need to share this with your community. If any properties are eligible for government vouchers get them to pledge as soon as possible. You might also want to talk to other local people or businesses about helping with funding, if you haven’t done that already.
Once you know whether your community wants to go ahead or not you'll need to tell us, you're not committed to anything at this point.
Now it’s time to get the community together to raise the money. We can help you with fundraising ideas as we know what's been successful in other partnerships.
You’ll need to pay 50 per cent of the community funded costs when you sign the contract. Then you’ll pay the rest of the balance when we finish the installation - usually, this is around a year after signing the contract.
Plan and build through to place your order
Plan and build through to place your order
Whatever type of partnership you have, once funding has been confirmed and any contracts signed, it’s over to our Openreach engineers to build the infrastructure. This won’t happen overnight, with the average network build taking up to 12 months – but we’ll keep you updated every step of the way.
As soon as everything’s in place, you’ll be able to order service from any of the broadband providers that sell in your area. Remember, the Government will only pay the value of pledged and validated vouchers when residents have confirmed that the service has been installed. Any voucher-funded properties that don't order a service may be liable to pay the value of the voucher.