Broadband breakthrough as thousands in the most remote areas finally get high-speed access | Politics | News

Rural areas across Britain are set to receive a major broadband boost after the Government announced nearly £300million in new contracts.

More than 130,000 hard-to-reach homes will finally be connected to ultra-fast gigabit internet speeds as part of Labour’s so-called Plan for Change.

The boost for hard-pressed areas comes after the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology confirmed four new contracts worth over £289million, signed by the Government and Openreach.

Areas set to benefit include the Dee Valley, Anglesey in Wales, the Shropshire Hills, Herefordshire, Devon, Somerset, Essex, the North East, and Worcestershire.

The Government hopes faster broadband speeds will help the NHS by enabling more patients to have consultations and monitoring appointments at home, freeing up space in hospitals and GP surgeries.

It could also help tackle loneliness by making it easier for friends and relatives to contact each other via video calls.

Science Secretary Peter Kyle told the Daily Express: “There is so much our modern digital world has to offer – from online healthcare to keeping in touch with friends and family – but a lack of fast and reliable broadband has excluded people from so many of these benefits.

“This is why, since coming into office, I have made it my priority to harness the power of digital innovation to shrink existing divides across our society, so no matter where you live you can benefit from what the online world has to offer.

“As part of this Government’s Plan for Change, we are helping to plug some of these gaps and getting one step closer to realising our ambition to achieve full gigabit coverage by 2030.”

Today’s £289million-worth of new contracts come on top of the £800million agreement signed with Openreach last August, which connected 97,000 premises up to the country’s growing gigabit internet network.

Project Gigabit is now delivering ultrafast speeds to over 1.1million hard-to-reach premises.

Openreach chief executive Clive Selley said: “Our new full fibre broadband network now reaches more than half of all properties in the UK, and we’re confident we can reach as many as 30million premises by the end of the decade, assuming the right regulatory and investment conditions exist.

“This is a British infrastructure success story which experts say will boost productivity by £73billion 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 ultra-fast, ultra-reliable network to areas that would otherwise be left behind by the private sector.”