Almost 500,000 premises across the UK are now connected to gigabit-capable broadband
Government announced that almost half a million premises are now connected to a gigabit-capable network, which is part of the £1 billion government funding commitment until the end of 2021. A further £5 billion funding will help the hardest-to-reach areas. 45,000 vouchers, worth more than £90 million, were issued to help cover the costs of delivering gigabit speeds directly to people’s homes and businesses. Counting commercial investment, more than 7.5 million premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, compared to around 1.4 million premises in 2018.
Companies and residents in rural towns and villages are being invited to apply for more than £70 million funding on offer to help the rural, hard-to-reach areas through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.
Earlier this year, WIK produced a report for BSG ‘Moving to a fibre-enabled UK: International experiences on barriers to gigabit adoption’ which highlighted the initiative. The recommendations from the report include addressing the issue of affordability and take-up, as well as advertising to improve consumer and business understanding of the benefits of gigabit broadband.
A new taskforce led by consumer and business groups such as Which?, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has also been launched to drive consumer and business take-up of gigabit speed internet connections.