UK Government launches £5bn Project Gigabit
The UK government announced a £5 billion infrastructure project aimed at connecting “more than one million hard to reach homes and businesses” in phase one. Available speeds are expected to be one gigabit per second and up to 510,000 homes and businesses in Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Tees Valley will be the first to benefit and later in June with connection projects for 640,000 premises in Norfolk, Shropshire, Suffolk, Worcestershire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. There will be a reintroduction of the Gigabit Broadband voucher scheme where up to £210 million will be available to people in eligible rural areas providing immediate financial help to get gigabit speeds. The government will provide up to £110 million to connect public sector buildings – such as GP surgeries, libraries and schools – in the hardest to reach parts of the UK with this revolutionary infrastructure.
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