Fermanagh SMEs and social enterprises could soon get connected to superfast broadband, The Impartial Reporter can reveal.

At tonight’s Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Regeneration and Community Committee meeting, Councillors will discuss a recommendation to push forward the Broadband Connection Vouchers Scheme, which would see businesses applying for grants of up to £3,000 to get connected to speed of up to 100 Mb per second.

To date, the Broadband Vouchers which are funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have only been available in Belfast and Derry.

In April 2015, the scheme was opened up to 50 cities across the UK, with DCMS allocating £40 million to share between SMEs. At that time, the scheme was also offered to every council area in Northern Ireland. If the Council ratify the scheme tonight, each SME in Fermanagh will immediately be able to apply for a connection voucher to install Superfast Broadband.

Belfast City Council is willing to enter into a service level agreement with Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to deliver the scheme locally. This will necessitate an initialisation charge of £8,000 to cover costs. A report to be discussed at tonight’s meeting recommends that the council "approves a payment of £8,000 to Belfast City Council to enable the commencement of the Broadband Connection voucher scheme in the Council area."

The £40 million funds would be shared on a first-come first-served basis with 50 other cities including such places as London and Manchester and the scheme runs until March 2016 or until the money runs out, whichever is soonest.

At a Digi Day West conference in Enniskillen today, organised by the First Stop Shop, local businesses learned about the scheme and took to twitter to voice their excitement at the potential it could bring.

@digidaywest tweeted: “The Super Connected Voucher System to be rolled out in Fermanagh & Omagh Fast Broadband! #DigiDayWest”.

Yvonne Megahey, Manager of the First Stop Shop tells Impartial Reporter.com: “We would welcome the scheme for the region.” See more details in this week’s Impartial Reporter