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The UK government’s £5 billion ($5.9 billion) Project Gigabit scheme, the first major subsidy deal, has been officially awarded, with Wessex Internet receiving £6 million ($7 million) to connect remote properties in southwest England with high-speed broadband.
In a fast-paced world Remote work In the past two years, the need for widespread superfast broadband has become more apparent than ever. People no longer only worry about stuttering Netflix-streaming, but they can’t keep up with their work’s virtual workplace via Zoom, Slack, and other cloud applications. However, many homes and businesses—especially those in rural areas—don’t have access to high-speed Internet access, putting them at a disadvantage compared to those around cities and other major highways.
While the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the UK provide gigabit-speed internet to millions of people in urban areas, delivering full fiber optic broadband to people in remote areas is cost-prohibitive. Comparing how much revenue you can get back by deploying infrastructure. That’s why the UK government announced the Gigabyte project in March 2021 – it’s trying to plug the gaps in these hard-to-reach places, so people can work from anywhere and start-ups can consider setting up shop far from the usual cities.
Indeed, new figures from Thinkbroadband show that 70% of the UK currently has gigabit internet access, but the government has announced plans to increase that coverage to 85% by 2025. The gigabit project grant will be critical to these plans.
Level up
In a statement last year, the government said it was initially targeting more than 1 million homes and businesses, half of which would be in Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Northumberland, South Tyneside and the Tees Valley. Wessex Internet ISP, which focuses on delivering fast broadband to rural areas in Dorset, Wiltshire and South Somerset, has now been given £6 million to connect 7,000 properties by 2025, with the first homes in the region expected to be online under gigabit. Connection by the end of 2022.
UK Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said in a statement: “The benefits of better broadband connectivity cannot be overestimated and this will enable people living in rural areas to enjoy 21st century speeds at home and at work, making their lives easier and more productive.”
Today’s announcement is expected to kick off a handful of similar contracts in the coming months, with an estimated $690 million in purchases of nearly half a million homes expected to be announced by the end of the year.
England is not the only country where government subsidies are being used to connect remote areas. In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has earmarked $5 billion for rural broadband providers over the next decade.
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