The UK Government's "Levelling Up" plan strengthens their 1Gbps broadband commitments
Project Gigabit is more ambitious than the UK's shift to
Published: 2nd February 2022 | Source: gov.uk |
The UK Government has promised "nationwide gigabit-capable broadband" by 2030
Today, the UK's government release their "Levelling Up" whitepaper, setting "12 missions" that are designed to transform the UK by 2030, promising better pay, employment an productivity within every area of the UK and a closed gap between richer and poorer parts of the nation.
Part of the government's missions, point 4 to be precise, is the UK's commitment to delivering "nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage" by 2030 and 5G coverage for "the majority of the population". The UK's plans for 1Gbps coverage by 2030 were first revealed in November 2020 (as reported by us here), though today's announcement makes a stronger commitment for "nationwide coverage" for 1Gbps broadband.
Alongside 1Gbps internet coverage, the government also plans to deliver increased 4G wireless internet connectivity and 5G connectivity to at least 50% of the UK population. While these goals are not overly ambitious, these changes will represent a huge improvement in wireless coverage for many parts of the UK.
4. By 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population.
As it stands, the government assumes that 1Gbps broadband coverage will mostly be delivered by commercial deployments from companies like Openreach and Virgin Media, with many remaining deployments being covered by the government's "Project Gigabit".
With Project Gigabit, the government plans to spend £5 billion to deploy Gigabit internet to areas of the country where commercial deployments are less lucrative. Prior announcements for Project Gigabit predict that the government will be able to deliver over 85% Gigabit coverage by 2025, and over 99.7% coverage by 2030.
Back in November 2021, the government confirmed that they were not promising 100% fibre coverage by 2030, but that they were planning to deliver 1Gbps speeds to over 99.7% of premises. Even so, this covers the vast majority of UK households and businesses, and options are being explored that could delver faster broadband speeds to these remaining areas.
Project Gigabit funding is targeted the last 20% of homes and businesses. Priority funding will be give to areas without access to "Superfast" (30 Mbps) broadband speeds. While the UK plans to invest £5 billion on project Gigabit, only £1.2 billion of tis funding will be made available before 2024.
Project Gigabit will bring positive change to the UK, providing most rural areas with the same ultra-fast internet connections that many of the UK's cities already enjoy. Moving forward, the internet will become an increasingly critical factor within the UK's economy, and providing fast connectivity to rural areas is one way to ensure that these areas of the UK don't get left behind as the nation evolves.
While the UK's "Levelling Up" program does not promise anything new with regards to connectivity targets, the program further confirms the government's commitment to delivering higher broadband speeds across the UK, At the bottom of this article we will list the UK's 12 "Levelling Up" missions.
You can join the discussion on the UK Government's plans to level up the UK's internet speeds on the OC3D Forums.
The 12 Missions to Level Up the UK
1. By 2030, pay, employment and productivity will have risen in every area of the UK, with each containing a globally competitive city, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.
2. By 2030, domestic public investment in Research & Development outside the Greater South East will increase by at least 40% and at least one third over the Spending Review period, with that additional government funding seeking to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth.
3. By 2030, local public transport connectivity across the country will be significantly closer to the standards of London, with improved services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing.
4. By 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population.
5. By 2030, the number of primary school children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths will have significantly increased. In England, this will mean 90% of children will achieve the expected standard, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by over a third.
6. By 2030, the number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK. In England, this will lead to 200,000 more people successfully completing high-quality skills training annually, driven by 80,000 more people completing courses in the lowest skilled areas.
7. By 2030, the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) between local areas where it is highest and lowest will have narrowed, and by 2035 HLE will rise by 5 years.
8. By 2030, well-being will have improved in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.
9. By 2030, pride in place, such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.
10. By 2030, renters will have a secure path to ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas; and the government’s ambition is for the number of non-decent rented homes to have fallen by 50%, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.
11. By 2030, homicide, serious violence, and neighbourhood crime will have fallen, focused on the worst-affected areas.
12. By 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution and a simplified, long-term funding settlement.
Most Recent Comments
In the past few years, it's starting to look like it did back then.
The funny thing is, it's all down to central government spending cuts. Yet if you know how the money system works, you'll know there's really no need for cuts.Quote
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The Levelling Up program so far is expected to only further increase inequality, sometimes to incredible levels:
https://i.gyazo.com/40c9d6738fb4b450...fe2b3d18d8.png
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/inequali...rdian-researchQuote