Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has called on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to reinstate its Broadband Connection vouchers that offer small businesses across the UK grants of up to £3,000 to obtain high-speed broadband connections

Councillors were told that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has suspended its Broadband Connection vouchers that offer small businesses across the UK grants of up to £3,000 to obtain high-speed broadband connections, because all of its £40 million funding has been allocated.

In the FODC area, 66 businesses have been awarded a Connection Voucher equating to a total value of £128,000. A total of 309 local businesses had applied. Four group schemes representing over 108 local businesses had applied for the possibility of receiving a combined grant of £20,000 but those applications had not been approved by DCMS prior to the funding running out.

The Council will now write to DCMS emphasising the importance of the scheme and requesting that sufficient funding is made available to support the applications formally submitted from the Council area.

Meanwhile, another Council broadband initiative is underway, aiming to provide better rural broadband in Fermanagh.

The Fermanagh Rural Broadband Initiative, also funded by DCMS, is being taken forward by the telecoms company Avanti in Fermanagh, Antrim, Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders.

Powered by Avanti, the pilot project will interact with consumers and business end users and introduce them to satellite technology.

Two demonstrator sites will be installed across Fermanagh until March 31, 2016, in Boho Community Centre and in Cashel Community Centre.