Government's gigabit-speed broadband plans revealed

The first stages of plans to get superfast broadband into the majority of UK homes has been revealed by the Government.

Although the Government had initially hoped to roll out gigabit-speed broadband to every home by 2025, the target was reduced to 85 per cent coverage in November.

The budget remains at £5bn - but only £2.1bn of that will be made available up to 2024.

The infrastructure build should start in 2022, according to Government sources.

The first to benefit will be homes and businesses in Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Tees Valley.

The next areas are expected to be Norfolk, Shropshire, Suffolk, Worcestershire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

A former voucher scheme is also being relaunched to provide more immediate help to those struggling with poor broadband coverage, with up to £210m being made available.

It is expected that commercial deployments of gigabit-capable fibre networks will reach more than 70 per cent of premises by the end of 2025, without government intervention.

Raj Kandola, head of policy at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “It 's very heartening to see the Government reaffirm its commitment to improving broadband networks across the country at a time when it 's never been more important.

“The pandemic has shed light on the disadvantages that those with poor broadband connectivity face on a regular basis and its pleasing to see that parts of the West Midlands will also benefit from the new scheme.

“Openreach has very ambitious plans in place to ramp up the roll out of FTTP connectivity to homes and offices across the country which will also compliment the wider investment that BT is making in Birmingham and the region as a whole.

“Ultimately, investing in our digital infrastructure will not only help drive productivity levels, it will also help encourage wider investment and make our region more attractive as a place to live and work. ”