The UK government has allocated an additional GBP 289 million to expand broadband access under its flagship Project Gigabit initiative, which is targeting 131,000 hard-to-reach homes and businesses. The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), which oversees the program, awarded the contracts to Openreach, BT’s infrastructure arm.
Among the key beneficiaries of this funding are North Wales, including the Isle of Anglesey and Dee Valley near Wrexham, along with the Shropshire Hills. Other regions set to receive upgraded connectivity include Herefordshire, Devon, Somerset, Essex, Worcestershire, and parts of North East England.
This investment is part of the GBP 800 million earmarked last August to connect 312,400 of the UK’s most remote properties. Openreach had already secured GBP 280 million to deliver broadband to 96,000 of these premises and has now added to that total with the latest award.
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Commitment to a Connected Future
Openreach CEO, Clive Selley, praised the program’s potential, noting the company’s progress in delivering full-fiber broadband to over half of UK properties. Selley is confident that Openreach will achieve its 30-million-connected-premises goal by 2030, contingent on favorable regulatory and investment conditions.
“This is a British infrastructure success story which experts say will boost productivity by GBP 73 billion and bring a raft of social and environmental benefits for the country. We believe that everyone deserves access to fast and reliable broadband, and we’re proud that this partnership will help extend our ultrafast, ultra-reliable network to areas that would otherwise be left behind by the private sector.”
DSIT announced that Project Gigabit has signed over GBP 2.2 billion contracts with 10 different suppliers. Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, noted, “With today’s GBP 289 million commitment, we are not just enhancing broadband speeds but enabling access to remote healthcare, online education, and e-commerce for communities across the country.”
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Challenges in Realizing Results
Despite these developments, converting contracts into operational networks remains a challenge. Last year, despite significant funds having been allocated, only 4,500 homes were connected under Project Gigabit.
While DSIT reports that the program now supports connectivity for over 1.1 million premises, it is unclear whether this figure reflects fully operational networks or ongoing deployment efforts.
