‘Litany’ of failures to roll out super-fast broadband in rural areas

A cross-party group of MPs has warned a ‘litany’ of failures means business and homes in rural areas could be locked out of gigabit broadband for years to come.

A new report by the public accounts committee has claimed 1.6 million UK premises, mainly in rural areas, cannot yet access superfast broadband speeds.

It adds as the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) turns its attention to upgrading the UK’s broadband connectivity again, there is a risk that ‘rural areas will be left even further behind’.

Last November’s Spending Review set a revised target of ensuring at least 85% coverage for gigabit (1000Mbps) broadband by 2025.

According to the report, this is still a ‘challenging target’ and increases the risk that the very hardest to reach premises will be struggling with slow broadband for many years to come.

‘We are concerned that the Department has yet to make any meaningful progress in delivering the policy and legislative changes deemed essential by industry if it is to achieve rapid roll-out,’ the report states.

‘It is still developing its £5 billion programme to subsidise roll-out to the hardest to reach 20% of the UK’s 31 million premises and could not tell us when it intends to deliver major milestones, such as the letting of contracts,’ it adds.

The chair of the public accounts committee, Meg Hillier commented: ‘With the grim announcement that the country and economy will be locked down for months, the government’s promises on digital connectivity are more important than ever.

‘But due to a litany of planning and implementation failures at DCMS, those promises are slipping farther and farther out of reach – even worse news for the “rural excluded” who face years trying to recover with substandard internet connectivity.’

Responding to the report, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, digital connectivity spokesperson at the Local Government Association, said: ‘The government’s downgrading of its 100% coverage target was disappointing and we urge it to set out as soon as possible its revised timeline for delivering universal gigabit-capable broadband coverage. This is particularly important for rural areas, many of which are already struggling to access superfast speeds.

‘Councils are committed to working closely with the government to help deliver on its nationwide gigabit-broadband and mobile coverage ambitions. We are pleased the committee has backed our call for councils to have the funding they need to play a role accelerating and co-ordinating local broadband delivery.’

A DCMS spokesperson said: ‘We do not agree with this report, which contains a number of inaccuracies.

‘Gigabit capable broadband is being rolled out rapidly – from one in ten households in 2019 to one in three households today. We expect that half of all households will have access to gigabit speeds by the end of this year, and the UK is deploying at a faster build rate than comparable countries.

‘This is evidence of the progress we have made to support the private sector and reduce barriers to roll out. We will take further rapid steps this year alongside the investment being made as part of our record £5 billion UK Gigabit Programme, which will focus on ensuring the hardest to reach 20% of the country is not left behind,’ added the spokesperson.

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