Everyone in the country of school age and above will be entitled to a Universal Digital Service voucher to ensure they have the tools necessary to communicate and access online services. Guardians of young people will be entitled with those young people’s vouchers.
Each voucher can be assigned to one accredited provider. Citizens can choose their own provider and any accepting provider is required to deliver a persistent minimum service that includes 30 mins talk/30 texts/30MB daily, unlimited traffic to .GOV and BBC online services, plus a smart device. Citizens can change their provider once a year.
The vouchers are worth a fixed amount to the provider, but it is likely that they will offer a range of packages because assured, regular revenues are valuable to them, and they can leverage the voucher-related services to sell upgrades.
The government will provide an online central register and complaints management service (information.gov.uk) to assist citizens and providers to assign and validate vouchers.
Funding
A per voucher cost of £6.50 per month, claimed by 60 million people, is £4B a year. This is budgeted in full from Year 2 of the programme. Central government will pay the providers monthly for every registered and eligible citizen.
£0.5B is budgeted in the first year to allow for systems setup and as early a start to the Service as possible.
Impacts
Universal Digital Service saves each eligible person about £130 a year, representing the value of the services provided compared to current commercial cost. Combined with the Universal Information Service, every household will save a minimum of £300 a year.
The Universal Digital Service has the highest efficiency rate of the Universal Services, returning £1.69 in savings for every £1 spent on provisioning the service. It is also the most universal of all the Services, covering everyone aged 6 and older.