BT Group has secured GBP 26 million in government funding to provide gigabit broadband to hundreds of primary schools as part of the UK government's 'Project Gigabit' initiative.
Project Gigabit aims to provide gigabit-capable broadband to at least 85% of UK premises by 2025, and the entire UK (around 99%) by 2030. Project Gigabit is supported by GBP 5 billion in public and private funding, which will be gradually allocated until 2030.
Project Gigabit includes the Schools Gigabit Connectivity Project, which aims to ensure that every school in the country has access to high-speed internet by 2025 through joint funding from the Departments of Education and Science, Innovation, and Technology.
As part of the latest contract for this project, BT will provide lightning-fast broadband connectivity to over 650 primary schools.
The schools eligible for the scheme will be those that are difficult to reach through commercial broadband rollout schemes in both rural and urban areas.
“Access to high speed, reliable broadband is vital in the modern world and underpins so much of our daily lives,” said Ashish Gupta, Managing Director, Corporate and Public Sector at BT, in a statement.
“Nowhere is this more important than education. This investment will transform the learning experience for thousands of pupils, opening up opportunities for interactive lessons and collaborative projects with other schools and pupils anywhere in the world, as well access to an expanding online library of educational content and video,” he continued.
BT will collaborate with infrastructure supplier, Openreach, to complete the broadband installation over the next few years, with the goal of finishing deployment at every school by December 2025.
