An extra 600,000 extra homes and businesses in "remote" locations in the UK will get fast broadband access thanks to an extra £440m sunk into the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme.
BDUK seeks to provide superfast broadband coverage to 95% of the UK by December 2017.
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"Superfast" in the context of the program is considered connection speeds of 24Mbps or faster. For the remainder, they'll have basic broadband access with speeds of at least 2Mbps. However, the Government will continue to examine options to determine how to bring this group up to speed, so to speak.
The recently announced cash boost has been sourced through a combination of efficiency savings and a mechanism that re-invests when people take up superfast connections installed by the Broadband Delivery UK project.
"Our Broadband Delivery UK programme is giving families and businesses in hard-to-reach areas the fast and reliable internet connections which are increasingly at the heart of modern life," said Culture Secretary Karen Bradley.
More than 90 per cent of the UK now has access to superfast broadband – up from just 45 per cent in 2010. Approximately 4.5 million premises have gained access to a minimum 24 Mbps broadband through the Government’s £1.7 billion BDUK.
Rollout of fast broadband in the UK isn't just about enabling citizens to watch NetFlix. Research carried out on behalf of the Government indicated the program will provide a net economic impact of up to £20 for every £1 of public money invested by 2024. It will add £6.3 billion p.a to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024 as well as 20,000 jobs.
In other recent related news, the UK Government has published a Call For Evidence to help it understand how it can take further action to accelerate deployment of infrastructure to deliver full fibre connections to business and residential premises - and further down the track, support the rollout of 5G mobile services across the UK.
In November, the UK Government announced more than £1 billion of investment to boost the UK’s digital infrastructure through full-fibre broadband and trialling 5G networks.
