Openreach has connected the first homes and businesses to its full fibre network in 38 of some of the country’s hard to reach rural communities.
The communities have been connected as part of the Project Gigabit scheme, with rural communities in areas including Lacock and Broad Hinton (Wiltshire), Dane End (Hertfordshire), Castle Caereinion and Llanwrin (Powys), and Meeth (Devon) now able to access full fibre broadband.
Openreach’s Project Gigabit contracts will help the company upgrade 290,000 homes and businesses in places that would otherwise not have been included in full fibre rollout plans. This builds on Openreach’s commercial rollout which has reached more than 18 million homes and businesses across the UK.
Small businesses like The Bull and Dragon in Meeth, Devon, are now benefiting from the new high-speed connectivity. Landlord Mike Tunnicliffe said, “Just because we’re in the middle of nowhere, doesn’t mean we’re disconnected anymore. As Chair of the Parish Council, I know that having connectivity coming into the village is going to allow businesses and the community to grow. There’s a lot of families that home school and it’s going to make their lives a lot easier as well.
“It’s also going to be a big boost to our local farming community. I’m an ex-farmer myself and you have to register your livestock online now and this makes it much easier for them to do that at a much faster rate.”
Research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) shows that full fibre broadband could deliver a £66 billion boost to the UK economy by 2029. The upgrade is expected to drive productivity gains, support over 620,000 people back into the workforce, and enable more than one million to work from home, contributing an additional £19 billion annually.
Katie Milligan, deputy CEO, Openreach, commented, “Bringing full fibre broadband to the UK’s most remote and rural homes is a monumental achievement. These communities have faced connectivity challenges for far too long, but our partnership with Project Gigabit is changing that.
“We want to make sure that every corner of the UK has access to the fastest and most reliable broadband technology, so this is just the beginning. We’re continuing to innovate and push the boundaries of what’s possible as we want no community to be left behind.”
Sir Chris Bryant, the telecoms minister, added, “I’m delighted to see the first premises successfully connected thanks to this landmark contract with Openreach, which will see some 290,000 homes and businesses connected in some of the hardest-to-reach places in the UK.
“Poor connectivity has kept rural communities back for too long, but through Project Gigabit we're removing barriers to opportunity and bringing fast, reliable broadband to homes and businesses that need it most.”