The UK Government, via the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, has announced a £5 billion ($6.9 billion) effort to bring fiber to the premises (FTTP) to rural homes and businesses. The initial phase of Project Gigabit will see more than a million homes reach with FTTP infrastructure, starting with up to 510,000 homes and businesses in Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Tees Valley. Network builders will be able to participate in the project via a series of tenders for local, regional, and cross-regional contracts.
The Government expect to issue tenders in these initial areas in the spring, with construction scheduled to begin in the first half of 2022. The government expects to announce the next procurements this coming June to connect up to 640,000 premises in Norfolk, Shropshire, Suffolk, Worcestershire, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight.
To enable citizens to take advantage of their new FTTP connections, the government will resurrect its Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, with up to £210 million ($291 million) earmarked for people in eligible rural areas who need financial assistance in subscribing for service. Meanwhile, the project also will see up to £110 million ($152.3 million) made available to connect public sector buildings in rural areas with FTTP. And with a section of Scotland already named for funding last month, the UK and Scottish governments are discussing further project funding under this new program.
“Project Gigabit is the rocket boost that we need to get lightning-fast broadband to all areas of the country,” commented UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “This broadband revolution will fire up people’s businesses and homes, and the vital public services that we all rely on, so we can continue to level up and build back better from this pandemic.”
“Project Gigabit is our national mission to plug in and power up every corner of the UK and get us gigafit for the future. We have already made rapid progress, with almost 40% of homes and businesses now able to access next-generation gigabit speeds, compared to just 9% in 2019. Now we are setting out our plans to invest £5 billion in remote and rural areas so that no one is left behind by the connectivity revolution,” added Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden. “That means no more battling over the bandwidth, more freedom to live and work anywhere in the country, and tens of thousands of new jobs created as we deliver a game-changing infrastructure upgrade.”
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.