Project Gigabit: Connecting Britain

Yesterday the government announced a new £5 billion Project Gigabit that will see more than one million hard to reach homes and businesses benefit from lightning fast broadband - helping us deliver on our manifesto promise to level up the entire country as we build back better. 

  • Now more than ever, as millions of us rely on the internet to work, shop and stay in touch with loved ones, we are determined to unlock the opportunity that fast broadband can provide to live and work more flexibly. 
     
  • While the UK is on track for one of the fastest rollouts of gigabit broadband in Europe, our £5 billion Project Gigabit will prioritise remote and rural areas which historically experience slower connections, with 1 million homes and businesses benefitting, and the first phase will begin next year in places like Cumbria, Hartlepool and Darlington. 
     
  • The government is also making £110 million available to connect public sector buildings such as GP surgeries, schools and libraries in hard to reach areas, as well as investing £210 million in our Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme, which helps cover the installation costs of bringing gigabit connectivity to homes and businesses in rural areas. 
     
  • In plugging in and powering up every corner of the UK, we can help accelerate our recovery from the pandemic and level up the country, creating jobs and spreading wealth across Britain as we build back better.

Full disclosure: this information in this post comes from a briefing from the Conservative party which I would have agreed with and shared whether I had any personal interest or not. 

However, so that there can be no doubt that I am being open and transparent  about my own interests in the matter, I am employed by Openreach and am a manager in the part of the company which manages the rollout of FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) high speed broadband. 

The views in this post do not necessarily represent those of Openreach or BT.)

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