The government is committed to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband to everyone in the UK. Our plan - to stimulate investment, bust barriers and drive competition - is working. We're on track for one of the fastest rollouts in Europe and for 60% of all households to have access to gigabit capable speeds by the end of the year. It is a huge leap forward from 2019, when it was just 9%.<\/p>
<\/strong><\/p> The government will announce the next areas to be connected via Project Gigabit shortly as it pushes ahead with efforts to connect at least 85 per cent of the UK to gigabit-capable broadband by 2025.<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> The telecoms market is thriving with new entrants and investments changing the picture on the ground. Project Gigabit is designed to be responsive to this and the ordering and timing of the procurement pipeline will remain dynamic with quarterly updates to the plan.<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> Kent is Phase 2 of Project Gigabit\u2019s procurement plans. There will be a procurement process for a supplier to provide gigabit coverage to all premises within the area which are not scheduled to get coverage through any other route (subject to a cost cap for the very hard to reach premises).<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> Both the new voucher scheme and the procurements are part of Project Gigabit, which we are supporting with funding of £5 billion so hard to reach communities are not left out - starting to level up now, not waiting for the end of the commercial rollout, and adding to the half a million rural homes and businesses already given coverage through our support<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> To provide immediate support across the UK we are funding up to £210 million worth of vouchers over the next three years to help with the costs of installing gigabit capable networks to people\u2019s doorsteps and up to £110 million to connect up to 7,000 rural public buildings such as GP surgeries, libraries and schools.<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> Currently 93.64% of the constituency of Tonbridge and Malling have access to Superfast broadband, which is slightly lower than the national average of 96.84%. Tonbridge and Malling has seen 292 voucher connections with a value of over £447,805. There are also a further 312 vouchers that are pending connection, totalling £982,778.<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4361", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Matt Warman"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2021-06-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans to announce further details on (a) dates and (b) contract values for Project Gigabit; and what assessment he has made of the broadband needs of people in Tonbridge and Malling constituency.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4462", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Tom Tugendhat"}
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, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1286435", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1286435/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " Since May 2019, eligible homes and businesses in rural areas that are part of a group project have been able to benefit from the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme funded by the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme. Voucher funding is a grant to individual residents and small businesses and is therefore committed when a voucher is issued to a beneficiary, at which point their supplier has 12 months to provide a connection. The Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme is due to close on March 31 2021, by which point all voucher requests must be received.<\/p> Due to the success of the voucher scheme, and in line with the government\u2019s ambition to provide access to gigabit-capable broadband to the hardest-to-reach communities in rural areas across the UK, a new gigabit broadband voucher is being developed as part of the UK Gigabit programme. This will target the hardest to reach areas which are least likely to benefit from commercial rollout. The government expects the new voucher to go live in April 2021 and, along with further details of the voucher, a new eligibility checker will be published in order to help consumers identify if they are eligible for a voucher. BDUK will also work with suppliers to help them transition existing projects, where they are eligible, to the UK Gigabit programme so that communities do not miss out on the opportunity for government funding to enable their access to gigabit capable connections.<\/p>"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2021-02-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Broadband: Rural Areas"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether projects funded by the Rural Gigabit Connectivity vouchers, but not submitted by 19 February 2021, will still be eligible for new Gigabit Broadband Vouchers from April 2021.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4462", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Tom Tugendhat"}
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