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Cheshire, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Essex, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, East Yorkshire and North Yorkshire to benefit
"The latest stage of our £5bn Project Gigabit plan will help hard-to-reach homes and businesses out of the broadband slow lane and plug them into the fastest and most reliable connections available," said Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries.
Dorries was speaking as the government revealed that 567,000 rural properties in England will get a broadband speed boost enabling them to download HD movies in less than 30 seconds as the next step in the £5 billion Project Gigabit rollout.
This follows an £8 million broadband announcement for northern Scotland announced at Budget benefitting 3,600 rural homes and businesses.
However those in line to benefit still need to be patient as the projects in England will be put out to tender in 2023, with work to build the connections set to commence early 2024. The estimated date for the connections going live is from April to September 2024.
Picking up on the governments current favourite phrase, Dorries said of the latest announcement "This investment is levelling up in action – building new internet connections in our rural communities so people have the speed, reliability and freedom to live and work flexibly, and take advantage of new technologies."
Project Gigabit was announced in March 2021 and is part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s target of achieving at least 85% gigabit-capable UK coverage by 2025, which officials say is "on track".
A summary of the regional areas to benefit from Project Gigabit Phase 3 was given on the government website.
The best place to understand broadband rollout in the UK and how it is changing lives is Connected Britain. Find out about the next edition on the website.
