Jonathan Djanogly MP welcomes that Huntingdonshire is among the first areas to benefit from next generation gigabit broadband.

Jonathan Djanogly has welcomed the Government’s £5 billion Project Gigabit that will see more than one million hard to reach homes and businesses benefit from lightning fast broadband.

Up to 140,000 homes and business across Huntingdonshire and the wider area will reap the rewards of Project Gigabit, with next-generation broadband speeds.

This project prioritises areas that currently have slow connections and which would otherwise have been left behind in broadband companies’ rollout plans, putting the investment in place to make their available speeds rocket to more than 1,000 megabits or one gigabit per second. It means families no longer having to battle over bandwidth and will give people in rural areas the freedom to live and work more flexibly. Contracts for these first areas will go to tender in the spring with spades in the ground in the first half of 2022.

Project Gigabit will also make £110 million available to connect public sector buildings such as GP surgeries, schools and libraries in hard to reach areas, as well as investing £210 million in the Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme, which will help cover the installation costs of bringing gigabit connectivity to homes and businesses in rural areas.

In plugging in and powering up every corner of the UK, this Conservative Government is helping to accelerate our recovery from the pandemic and level up the country, creating jobs and spreading wealth across Britain as we build back better.

Commenting, Jonathan Djanogly said:

“Families and businesses across Huntingdonshire are relying on the internet now more than ever to work, shop and stay in touch with loved ones, so connection speeds have never been more important.

“I am delighted that Huntingdonshire has been prioritised in Project Gigabit and that homes and businesses across the region will be benefitting from lightning fast broadband.

“By investing in hard to reach areas across the UK, this Conservative Government is creating jobs and spreading wealth across Britain as we level up and build back better.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

“Project Gigabit is the rocket boost that we need to get lightning-fast broadband to all areas of the country. This broadband revolution will fire up people’s businesses and homes, and the vital public services that we all rely on, so we can continue to level up and build back better from this pandemic.”

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said:

“Project Gigabit is our national mission to plug in and power up every corner of the UK and get us gigafit for the future.

“We have already made rapid progress, with almost 40 percent of homes and businesses now able to access next-generation gigabit speeds, compared to just 9 percent in 2019. Now we are setting out our plans to invest £5 billion in remote and rural areas so that no one is left behind by the connectivity revolution.

“That means no more battling over the bandwidth, more freedom to live and work anywhere in the country, and tens of thousands of new jobs created as we deliver a game-changing infrastructure upgrade.”