 |
answer text |
<p>According to the independent website thinkbroadband.com, the estimated mean download
speed in the Easington constituency during the third quarter of 2022 stood at 90 Mbps.
This is slightly lower than the North East regional average of 96 Mbps and the UK
average of 95. These averages are derived from crowd-sourced data and it is worth
noting that users may not opt for the fastest speeds available when selecting a broadband
package.</p><p>Further improvements to broadband speeds in the Easington constituency
will be delivered as part of our £5 billion investment in Project Gigabit, which is
upgrading and future-proofing network infrastructure for decades to come. Easington
is included in Project Gigabit’s North East England regional procurement, which covers
up to an estimated 53,000 premises and has an indicative contract value of £82 million.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) plans to award a contract between April and May next year.</p><p>In
addition to our Project Gigabit procurements, we are providing additional support
through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme to support rural communities across the
UK with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. Through the Gigabit
Broadband Voucher Scheme and its previous iterations, we have issued over 100,000
vouchers worth more than £214 million.</p><p>Projects under the previous Superfast
Broadband Programme in the North East covering Durham, Northumberland and Newcastle
benefitted from UK Government funding of £24 million, alongside £24 million from the
local authorities, £2 million European funding and £26 million from suppliers, to
upgrade over 170,000 premises to superfast speeds over the lifetime of the programme.
BDUK also delivered a Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) project in the North of Tyne
area, with more than £5.8 million in government funding.</p><p>At national level,
spend through BDUK on broadband in each of the last five years is as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td
rowspan="2"><p>£m</p></td><td colspan="5"><p>Year</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>18/19</p></td><td><p>19/20</p></td><td><p>20/21</p></td><td><p>21/22</p></td><td><p>22/23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nationally</p></td><td><p>38.6</p></td><td><p>29.9</p></td><td><p>9.6</p></td><td><p>10.0</p></td><td><p>12.5</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p>
|
|
