Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
We pointed out to the Department that a year has passed since the general election...
Conclusion
We pointed out to the Department that a year has passed since the general election pledge and with 2021 fast approaching, the level of roll-out would have to be extraordinarily quick to achieve nationwide gigabit connectivity by 2025.13 The Department acknowledged that 2025 was “a very challenging target to meet” requiring it to “strain every sinew to make that happen” but was not prepared to admit that it would not meet it.14 Since we took oral evidence, government has dropped the 2025 date for nationwide gigabit coverage and, in its National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) published in November 2020, has announced a revised target to reach “a minimum of 85% gigabit capable coverage by 2025”. The NIS says that government will seek to accelerate roll-out to get as close to 100% as possible but there is no date for achieving 100%.15
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
1. 2 The 2020 Spending Review allocated £1.2 billion over 4 years to support the rollout of gigabit- capable broadband, as part of the government’s £5 billion commitment to support rollout to hardest to reach areas (under the UK Gigabit Programme). The spending profile takes into account extensive engagement with suppliers in the telecoms industry, and what it believes the industry will be able to deliver by 2025 in these hard to reach areas at this stage. As set out in the National Infrastructure Strategy, the government expects that by 2025 at least 85% of premises will have access to gigabit-capable connections and the department will continue to work with industry to accelerate the rollout further to get as close to 100% as possible. The department remains committed to investing £5 billion in bringing gigabit coverage to the hardest to reach areas and will continue to work with suppliers to accelerate this investment, taking account of industry capacity.