The plans fall under the government's 'Project Gigabit' fund, which aims to meet pledges originally announced in the 2019 Conservative manifesto to install full-fibre, gigabit-capable broadband in every home and business across the UK by 2025.
This pledge was later downgraded to just 85 per cent of premises in the UK, although MPs have questioned whether even this target is plausible considering the current speed of the rollout.
The government hopes that the infrastructure upgrades in hard-to-reach areas will accelerate the country’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and potentially fire up the tech sector and creative industries.
Up to 1,850,000 additional premises will be connected to the new infrastructure, which should provide speeds that would allow an HD film to be downloaded in less than 30 seconds or even streaming of 8K video.
It brings the current total number of premises in scope for the government-funded coverage to 2.2 million...