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The funding aims to close the digital divide, giving rural residents the same opportunities as urban areas
The UK government has announced the latest tranche of Project Gigabit funding, with £289 million in contracts being won by Openreach to bring high-speed broadband to some of Britain’s most isolated areas under the ongoing Project Gigabit.
The four contracts targets areas including the Dee Valley, the Isle of Anglesey, Shropshire Hills, and regions in North and Southwest Wales, Herefordshire, Devon, Somerset, Essex, Northeast England, and Worcestershire.
The contract will see Openreach deploy fibre-to-the-home networks across included areas, offering faster speeds and greater reliability for residents.
In total, around 131,000 hard-to-reach homes and businesses are expected to benefit from improved connectivity.
“We are determined to deliver the infrastructure this country needs to thrive, and I am thrilled to see so many homes and businesses in all areas of the country getting access to the fastest broadband speeds on the market through Project Gigabit,” said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle in a press release.
“With today’s £289 million investment, we are not only boosting connectivity, but making it easier to access remote healthcare, online education, shopping online. As part of this government’s Plan for Change, we will plug digital divides, helping to make the UK a more equal society where everyone is given a fair shot in life.”
For Openreach, these latest contracts add to the £800 million won by the company back in August, which pledged to pass 96,600 rural homes and businesses. “Our Full Fibre network already reaches over half the UK, and we aim for 30 million premises by 2030. This investment ensures rural areas won’t be left behind,” said Openreach CEO Clive Selley.
Currently, over 85% of the UK can access gigabit-capable broadband, a figure the government aims to raise to full national coverage by 2030. Since Project Gigabit’s establishment in 2018, over £2.2 billion has been committed through dozens of contracts involving a mix of large and independent broadband providers.
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