The Rural Community Broadband Fund
RCBF Applicants Guide (PDF 3.45Mb)
(RCBF) was setup by DEFRA to fund superfast broadband projects in the most hard to reach areas in England, bringing superfast broadband to a greater number of communities than would otherwise be reached.
Jointly funded by DEFRA and BDUK, the £20 million fund will ensure that a greater proportion of businesses and consumers in those communities can take advantage of the benefits of superfast broadband.
RCBF areas in the West of England
To be eligible your community project must fall within the areas identifed by BDUK as being in the 10% ‘hard to reach’ areas in the either South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset or North Somerset. A list of these areas will be available shortly but please contact WERN (01275 333701) to see if you community is eligible.
Click here for details of how to apply for Rural Community Broadband Funding
RCBF EoI (Word 545 Kb)
Applications to the Fund require an accompanying data-book (Excel 54kb), to help demonstrate an initial viability for the proposed project and to formally describe the geographical coverage.
BDUK is in the process of developing a comprehensive community broadband toolkit (PDF 174kb) to help applicants access best practice and gain a wider understanding of smaller scale broadband programmes.