-
showcases plans to connect
rural South West communities to lightning-fast gigabit
broadband at leading agricultural show
- Comes as rural areas in Cornwall and Dorset set for £47
million broadband boost from Project Gigabit benefitting up to
26,000 hard-to-reach premises
- Up to 345,000 South West rural premises set to benefit from
Project Gigabit, including as many as 159,000 in Devon and
Somerset
is calling on broadband
firms to play their part in the biggest internet upgrade in
British history by bidding for up to £47 million to rollout
lightning-fast gigabit broadband in rural Cornwall and
Dorset.
The Digital Secretary visited the opening day of the Royal
Cornwall Show this afternoon to champion the government’s £5
billion broadband scheme.
She told an event hosted by the Country Land and Business
Association (CLA) that thousands of people in rural parts of
Cornwall are a big step closer to getting much faster broadband
thanks to Project Gigabit - the biggest government-funded
broadband roll-out ever seen in the UK.
Broadband companies have been invited to bid for Project Gigabit
contracts to bring fast connections to up to 26,000 homes and
businesses in many of the hard-to-reach areas of Cornwall
(19,000) and North Dorset (7,000). Work will commence on getting
the infrastructure rolled out across areas - including rural
communities in Land’s End, the Lizard Peninsula, Shaftesbury,
Gillingham and many others from August this year.
This is on top of plans to invest as much as £667 million to
connect up to 345,000 rural homes and businesses across the South
West as part of Project Gigabit, including an estimated 159,000
in Devon and Somerset, 84,000 in Wiltshire and South
Gloucestershire, 44,000 across the rest of Gloucestershire and an
additional 56,000 premises in Dorset.
Project Gigabit is giving rural areas unlikely to be reached by
commercial roll out access to internet connections capable of
download speeds of one gigabit, providing the speeds and
reliability needed to future-proof homes and businesses for
decades to come. The nationwide scheme will boost regional
productivity, economic growth and level up by helping to close
the digital divide.
Speaking at the Royal Cornwall Show, Digital Secretary
said:
“ Up and down the UK, we’re spending £5 billion to connect homes
and businesses onto one of the fastest networks on the planet.
“ We have pinpointed 19,000 homes and businesses across Cornwall,
in places that are hard to connect. And we’re inviting broadband
companies to bid for £36 million worth of contracts to connect
those communities.
“ This will make a real, fundamental difference to people’s
lives. It means that a person can start a business anywhere they
like, knowing that they get the exact same opportunities as
someone in London or Manchester. And that’s what this government
is all about. Backing businesses, and backing communities,
wherever they are.”
Many areas in Cornwall are already able to access top quality
connectivity thanks to government investment. Ninety-five per
cent of premises can access superfast speeds - which is more than
enough to meet most people’s connectivity needs - thanks in part
to the government’s £2 billion investment in superfast broadband
since 2012.
In a further broadband boost for the South West, the government
continues to run the Gigabit Broadband Vouchers Scheme (GBVS) by
providing up to £210m worth of voucher funding to support rural
communities across the country with the cost of installing new
gigabit-capable connections. So far, more than 1,000 premises
across hard-to-reach areas in Cornwall are in line for
connections thanks to £2.3 million funding through this scheme.
Secretary of the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association
Christopher Riddle said:
“ We are very pleased to have had join us at the Royal
Cornwall Show and for her to have had the opportunity to meet
some of our incredible local businesses, as well as discussing
investment in gigabit broadband. As a rural area, it is vitally
important that we can connect, in what can be very isolated
communities in some parts of Cornwall.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Project Gigabit
Project Gigabit is the government’s flagship £5 billion programme
to connect hard-to-reach communities unlikely to be connected
through commercial rollout, meaning families no longer having to
battle over bandwidth and people in rural areas can have the
freedom to live and work more flexibly, helping businesses to
grow and vital public services to thrive.
The faster connections delivered by the scheme have been
levelling up rural communities across the UK: enabling businesses
to grow by using digital technology to boost their productivity
and giving people living in more remote areas better access to
good jobs.
The Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) is
an initiative under Project Gigabit offering rural homes and
businesses up to £1,500 or £3,500 towards the cost of a
gigabit-capable broadband connection. The value can be much
higher in many areas thanks to top-up funding from local
authorities.
