Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media
& Sport (): Today we have published
Building Digital UK's (BDUK) latest Project Gigabit delivery
update. We continue to make excellent progress with Project
Gigabit, the government’s £5 billion mission to deliver
lightning-fast, reliable broadband across the UK.
In this Project Gigabit Autumn Update, we report on the awarding
of a £108 million contract in Cumbria that will bring
gigabit-capable connectivity to up to 60,000 homes and businesses
across the region. This is the first regional contract awarded
under Project Gigabit, and follows local contracts awarded in
Teesdale and North Northumberland in the past two months.
We also report on the boost we are giving to the Gigabit
Broadband Voucher Scheme, increasing the value of vouchers to
£4,500 for all beneficiaries, up from £1,500 and £3,500 for homes
and businesses respectively. To date, over 111,000 vouchers have
been through the scheme and its previous iterations, with more
than 77,000 vouchers used to connect premises to gigabit-capable
broadband.
The report also provides an update on the progress of the Project
Gigabit procurement pipeline. BDUK has now undertaken market
engagement exercises across the whole of England, and has
launched procurements with a total value over £780 million, to
connect up to 545,000 premises. The publication also reports on
the completion of a Public Review by Highland and Islands
Enterprise, working with BDUK and the Scottish Government, ahead
of a first potential local procurement in Scotland.
