1.5m rural properties to receive fast broadband within a year, Govt pledges

1.5m rural properties to receive fast broadband within a year, Govt pledges

The Government has claimed that 1.5 million more rural properties will be linked up to superfast broadband within the coming year.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed that the superfast broadband programme will accelerate from next month, bringing the services to more and more rural areas. Up to 10,000 businesses and homes based in rural areas across the country look set to be connected from October, the body said, a figure which will rise to 40,000 a week by summer of next year.

The current slower rate of implementation has been linked to delays regarding European approval for state aid, which has hindered the national programme of superfast broadband rollout across the entire country. Further delays have also been reported as councils across the UK attempted to negotiate local agreements over contracts to build networks.

Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey, said: “The transformation of broadband in rural communities has begun and the coming months will see a rapid acceleration in the number of rural businesses and homes able to access superfast speeds. Average rural internet speeds are increasing at a tremendous rate and local businesses are already starting to benefit from all that superfast speeds have to offer.”

The Government has now confirmed that “nearly all broadband projects in the countryside have entered delivery phase, which will see broadband reaching some of the most rural communities across the country,” the news source reported.

Superfast broadband services will now reach 95 per cent of premises by 2017 and “at least” 99 per cent of premises by 2018, the Government added.

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