Get set up with 4G 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 subsidy scheme gives immediate assistance to any home or business anywhere within Wales which cannot currently access a superfast (24 Mbps+) broadband service (that's one running at 24 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.

Applying for an ABC subsidy is a quick and easy process. Here's what to do:-

Start by finding out if you're eligible for a grant under the ABC scheme. Full details on eligibility are available here on the Welsh Assembly's ABC website.

Next you should check to see if you are already able to receive a superfast broadband service. You can do this via Openreach's address checker here.

Then if you’re told that a superfast (24+ Mbps) broadband service is not available at your location, you should qualify for an ABC subsidy.

1. The first thing you'll need to do is choose a provider that operates under the ABC scheme and get an official quotation from them (it's a requirement to include such a quotation with your application to the Welsh Assembly).
2. 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 4G 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.
3. We'll then be able to check 4G coverage at your exact location - and these days over 98% of all UK home and business premises already are sufficiently covered, including very rural and remote properties.
   
   And don't worry if your smartphone only shows flaky 4G reception - because we fit a high gain external antenna, which latches onto available 4G signals, amplifies them and then pipes them down to a 4G router inside your property.
4. Then once we've confirmed that your property is within coverage, we'll then send you an official quotation by email.
5. Now download and complete the ABC application form that you can find here on the Welsh Assembly's website and send it into them, along with the quotation that we'll have sent you for the installation and set-up of your chosen 4G broadband service.
6. Your application will be reviewed and if everything's ok, you'll be sent a Formal Offer of Funding letter to confirm that the equipment, installation and set-up of your 4G broadband service with us will be fully covered under the ABC Scheme.
7. Once you've received that letter, just get in touch with us and we'll do all the rest - and getting you up and running on fast 4G broadband typically takes us no more than a couple of weeks.
8. Once your 4G 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 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 8 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 Subsidy 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 (24 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 broadband service. This includes:-

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

The normal cost of all the above totals £399 inc VAT.

The carefully chosen 4G router we supply will be fully set up and installed for you. This provides full WiFi functionality - so you can share your new 4G connection across multiple internet-enabled devices within your property.

Our professional installers will also fit a small high gain and directional external 4G antenna to the outside of your property to ensure that you get the best possible 4G 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 4G 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 4G 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.

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 our fast and robust 4G broadband service (which normally costs £399 inc VAT) will be fully covered by your ABC grant.

The only charge you'll pay is the normal monthly subscription cost of our 4G broadband service. That starts from as little as £31.99 inc VAT for personal accounts and £35.00 plus VAT for business accounts.

Unlike traditional landline-based broadband services, broadband delivered over a 4G 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 broadband are very dependent upon local factors specific to each individual location. However, when measured across the entire UK, 4G broadband performance averages at around the 25 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload levels.

You can find more information on 4G broadband here.

If you have already been issued with a Formal Offer of Funding letter under the Access Broadband Cymru Scheme, 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 packages would suit you best, process your order once you're happy and then arrange installation of your new 4G 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.