Rural broadband: Where has all the money gone?
Whilst we have all been watching the global pandemic and some of us even thinking about Brexit where has all the broadband money gone and more importantly the commitment to connect the most rural places up….??
Internet and network providers have asked the government to clarify why its promised £5bn investment in rural broadband has been reduced to £1.2bn.
Industry bodies said they wanted clarity on how and when the remaining £3.8bn would be allocated.
The change was announced in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review.
The government has also watered down its election pledge to reach every home in the country to the lower target of 85%.
Providing all homes and businesses in the UK with gigabit broadband speeds by 2025 was one of Boris Johnson’s most ambitious election pledges.
It came with the promise of £5bn to get the job done – but in the spending review it was announced that only £1.2bn of that would be made available over the next four years.