Government marks 3million homes and businesses covered by the BDUK superfast broadband rollout.
In a statement from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport; the Government celebrated the continued success of the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) superfast broadband rollout.
This is the latest landmark in the Governments Superfast broadband initiative which is set to see over £1.7 billion invested in rolling out superfast broadband (at speeds of 24Mbps or more) to at least 95% of UK premises by 2017. 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.
Our £1.7bn superfast broadband programme is on track to reach at least 95 percent of the UK by 2017, and it is great to see homes and businesses making the most of everything that superfast speeds have to offer.”
This follows the recent statement by BT that they will be releasing £129m back to the Government for further investment in the scheme. This is due to extraordinarily high uptake of fibre services by consumers, above and beyond the 20% that BT forecast in their business brief which has subsequently activated a clause in the Government contract enabling them to return the initial funding received. This will be reinvested to further expedite the roll out and hopefully support the technology to roll out to even more locations including the more difficult remote premises. Gavin Patterson, CEO BT Group, said:
“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.”
The Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss was excited about the prospects for the diversification of business throughout the country stating:
“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.”
