The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has announced that thousands of people in rural Cornwall are to gain access to new, lightning-fast broadband following an agreement with a local supplier.
As part of the government’s nationwide Project Gigabit, with a total commitment of £5 billion, hard-to-reach areas around the country are being upgraded to gain access to better broadband. This latest agreement will see up to 19,250 homes and businesses in the South West and Mid Cornwall connected to improved broadband.
Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said:
“From Tintagel to Tredavoe, we are investing millions of pounds to connect almost 20,000 homes and businesses across Cornwall to lightning-fast broadband. This will generate growth and opportunity for people in the region’s rural communities.
“The move is part of the government’s flagship £5 billion Project Gigabit programme to spread fast, reliable and fit for the future broadband to rural and remote communities in the UK.”
The initiative to rollout Project Gigabit is the largest of its kind in British history, giving communities the ability to fully seize the benefits of gigabit-capable networks, with the projects creating jobs. This particular project in Cornwall will see an expected 200 jobs created, on top of the 150 that the local partner has already delivered. These roles will include a wide range of skilled jobs across the build process. Local businesses and contractors will also see the benefits, across the supply chain.
Cornwall Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economy, Louis Gardner, said:
“We’ve been closely with DCMS to progress these procurements and it’d good news that the two contracts have been awarded, bringing the benefits of access to ultrafast, full fibre broadband connections to more of Cornwall’s residents. This builds on the legacy of previous investments since 2011 through the Superfast Cornwall programmes, including existing 49% coverage of gigabit-capable full fibre, one of the high in England for a rural county.”
