- The grants cover the connection set-up: user equipment, installation and activation, up to a maximum of €400.
- Individuals, the self-employed, small businesses, non-profits and small town councils can apply.
- They apply only at locations without 10 Mbps coverage and with any technology: fixed, wireless or satellite.
On 20 October 2017 the official gazette published Royal Decree 898/2017 of 6 October, which regulates the direct award of grants for taking up high-speed fixed broadband services of 30 megabits per second. The Council of Ministers had approved it on 6 October. The programme will be run by the public business entity Red.es, which will publish the calls for applications.
The Government estimates that about 1.85 million households, 10% of the population, lack 10 megabit-per-second coverage, and that 70% of them are in settlements of fewer than five thousand inhabitants. The programme aims to overcome the cost-of-entry barrier at those locations and to contribute to the European goal of every citizen having access to connections of at least 30 Mbps before 2020.
What the grant covers and how much
The grant goes towards costs directly related to setting up the user: purchasing the equipment, installing it and bringing it into service. The maximum amount, including indirect taxes where they are not recoverable, is €400, and never more than the actual cost. The installed equipment belongs to the beneficiary, and the user pays nothing for the connection, only the monthly fees of the contracted service. For a self-employed person in a rural area, that can mean working remotely and invoicing online without travelling.
The programme respects technological neutrality: any technology able to deliver at least 30 Mbps download counts, whether fixed network, wireless or satellite. The user contracts with an operator that has joined the programme, which must have a public reference commercial offer and which files the application on the beneficiary’s behalf, informing them first of the obligations they take on.
Who can apply and where
Beneficiaries can be individuals, the self-employed, small and medium-sized businesses, non-profit entities and town councils with 5,000 inhabitants or fewer, the latter for premises where municipal services are provided. As a rule, only one grant can be requested per beneficiary, except for town councils, which can benefit at up to five different locations.
Only locations that, at the time of publication, have no fixed broadband service of at least 10 Mbps download with latency below 100 milliseconds are eligible. Red.es will publish the information on those locations so that operators can object if they already provide coverage. The programme runs until 31 December 2020, extendable by another two years, and may have one or several calls.
What to review
If your home or business is in an area with poor connectivity, it is worth checking real coverage and the offers of participating operators when the call opens, and comparing monthly fees, minimum terms and conditions, because the grant covers the set-up but not the fees. A good connection is today a working tool: e-invoicing, dealings with the administration, online sales and remote work all depend on it.
The self-employed and small businesses should bear in mind the beneficiary’s obligations: use the contracted capacity for their own activity, without reselling it or creating a public access point with it, although they can give their customers connectivity as an added facility to their business; keep the operator’s invoice; and submit to checks and, where applicable, repayment if they fail to comply. As with any grant, it is worth confirming with your adviser how it fits your tax situation.
Connectivity is infrastructure: a set-up grant does not solve everything, but it can open the door to working and selling from anywhere.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
