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<p>The Government remains committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity
as soon as possible. Our ambition is to deliver this by 2025. We recognise that this
is a challenging ambition. We support industry’s plans to deliver gigabit broadband
to the most commercial parts of the UK (c.80% of the country) and will continue to
take action to remove barriers to deployment to help them deliver this by 2025.</p><p>Building
Digital UK (BDUK) is currently in the process of mobilising the new £5 billion UK
Gigabit Programme which was announced in the Spring Budget. Procurements will commence
in 2021.</p><p>According to Thinkbroadband (<a href="https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/"
target="_blank">https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/</a>) as of 27 October, coverage
at UK premises for different broadband speeds is currently:</p><ul><li><p>Superfast
(30Mbps) = 96.50%</p></li><li><p>Ultrafast (100Mbps) = 63.27%</p></li><li><p>Gigabit
(1,000Mbps) = 27.52%</p></li><li><p>Full Fibre (Gigabit+) = 17.49%</p></li></ul><p>Virgin
Media are in the process of activating gigabit services across their entire network
by the end of 2021, and this currently covers over 52% of the UK. BT Openreach and
CityFibre also have multi-billion pound fibre rollout programmes underway so a leap
in gigabit coverage during 2021 is anticipated. This planned build predominantly covers
urban areas so DCMS’s focus is on stimulating build in the more rural and disadvantaged
areas of the UK where the commercial market will not build unaided.</p><p>The government
has invested significant amounts in digital infrastructure over the last decade. The
DCMS portfolio of active projects is currently c.£4 billion (detailed below) and in
the Spring Budget, a further £5 billion of investment was announced for the hardest
to reach areas of the UK. More details regarding the programme will follow in the
Autumn Spending Review.</p><p> </p>
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