More than three million homes and businesses have been reached by the Westminster government’s nationwide rollout of superfast broadband, figures published today reveal. The announcement follows news that libraries are to share in a £1.5 million Scottish Government investment to enhance digital participation.
The rollout is delivering superfast access – internet speeds greater than 24 Mbps – to those properties not covered by existing commercial networks and is on track to take superfast access to 95 per cent of the UK by 2017. More than four out of five UK homes and businesses already have access to superfast speeds, and the rollout is currently reaching an additional 40,000 homes and businesses every week.
This comes following recent news that BT will make up to £129m available to extend the Government-led rollout of superfast broadband across the UK.
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said: “Reaching three million properties is a huge achievement. Our rollout of superfast broadband is transforming lives up and down the country as every day thousands more homes and businesses are gaining access to superfast speeds.
“It’s fantastic to see that the rollout of superfast broadband is now delivering for customers and for the taxpayer. The levels of people taking up superfast broadband in areas where we invested public money are beyond our expectations, and BT is now reimbursing the public purse to deliver further coverage across the UK. This now means that BT will be providing up to £129m cashback for some of the most hard to reach areas.”
The additional funding will be made available to local authorities to reinvest the money in providing further superfast broadband coverage to even more homes and businesses, and much earlier than originally planned.
The money is being made available as a result of a clause in the contracts BT agreed with government and local authorities that allows the funding BT has received to be returned or reinvested into further coverage if take-up is better than the 20 per cent expected in BT’s original business case. The higher take up rate to date has resulted in BT making a new business case assumption of reaching 30 per cent take-up in these areas.
In Scotland, more than 394,000 homes and businesses have been reached by the rollout of fibre-optic cable.
Gavin Patterson, CEO BT Group, said: “The UK is making great progress with fibre broadband. Twenty three million premises are covered by BT’s open access network, with three million of those enabled under the BDUK programme. Our Openreach engineers have worked tirelessly to connect some of the most remote parts of the UK, from Shetland and Hebrides to the moors of southwest England.
“The public have responded by taking up fibre in large numbers, and that’s good news for those areas that haven’t been reached yet. It means additional funds are being released which will enable us to go even further at no extra cost to the taxpayer and earlier than expected.”
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: “Our continuing investment in speedier broadband will unleash the full potential of our countryside – creating jobs, boosting exports and improving the quality of life for people living in rural communities.
“By ensuring everyone has access to the same technology and services we can boost the productivity of rural areas, making it as easy to open and expand a business in some of the most beautiful parts of our countryside as it is in our cities.”
Almost £18million funding is being made available to accelerate high speed broadband roll-out for Scotland’s rural communities.
The early benefit comes from the success of the Scottish Government-backed £410million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme, which has now reached over 365,000 homes and businesses from the Shetland Isles to Dumfries and Galloway.
And Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney yesterday announced £1.5 million to boost free Wi-Fi in public spaces.
The £1.5 million funding for 2015/16 is part of the Scottish Government’s wider drive to enhance digital participation, improve rural connectivity and the uptake of online public services across Scotland.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney visited Ullapool library in the MacPhail Centre to see at first-hand the impact of the public library Wi-Fi programme to date.
He wanted to find out how people are benefitting from freely available connectivity and met trainers and participants in a ‘Get To Know Your Techno’ group, an innovative digital participation initiative which has seen young people teach older people digital skills and the benefits of being online.
Mr Swinney, said: “It’s wonderful to be here in Ullapool to announce our public wireless programme which includes a second phase of funding for free public Wi-Fi in libraries. This supports the promotion of the wider economic, social and cultural benefits from public spaces and has the potential to attract new audiences to our public libraries.
“Helping libraries and other public spaces to provide free connectivity will be increasingly important as the use of smartphones and tablets continues to increase and the appetite for internet access on the move grows.
“Libraries don’t just provide access to reading material they play a crucial role in providing access to IT, improving attainment, supporting children in the early years and empowering communities. We want to help libraries to empower communities, tackle inequality and boost the economy, as well as provide more people with opportunities to learn and to experience local heritage and culture.
“The latest research from Ofcom shows that more Scots than ever before are using smart devices to access the internet – almost 40% say their smartphone is their main way of accessing the internet and indicates that half the adults in Scotland own a tablet. The Scottish Government is committed to improving and extending access to public Wi-Fi in support of our world class digital vision where people can connect anywhere, with any device, at any time by 2020.
“Ullapool is already benefitting from free public Wi-Fi and the ‘Get To Know Your Techno’ group is a great example of how easier access to Wi-Fi improves digital participation across our communities and can bring younger and older members of the community together.”
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