The £200m rollout of full fibre broadband is set to begin with 20 schools in Cornwall, seven in Northumberland, three in Cumbria and one school in Pembrokeshire.

“Our decision to tackle some of the hardest to reach places first is a significant shift in Government policy and will be instrumental in delivering our plans for a nationwide full fibre broadband network by 2033,” culture secretary Jeremy Wright said.

“Our rollout of superfast broadband transformed the UK’s digital landscape and our modern industrial strategy is focused on investing in the infrastructure that will make Britain fit for the future,” he added.

According to regulator Ofcom, the number of premises unable to receive decent broadband halved from 4 per cent to 2 per cent at the end of 2018. This considers a download speed of 10Mbit/s and an upload speed of 1Mbit/s as the reasonable minimum.

Last summer, the Government identified that approximately 10 per cent of UK premises, largely in rural and remote areas, would be unlikely to receive gigabit-capable connections commercially by 2033.

Full fibre, where fibre cables run all the way from the exchange to properties, is being rolled out with an ‘outside-in’ approach to ensure rural areas are not disadvantaged in the race for full fibre broadband.

This new approach will help ensure that the identified 10 per cent of premises are reached at the same time as the commercial roll-out happens across the country.

The Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme is prioritising remote parts of Cornwall, Cumbria, Northumberland and Pembrokeshire initially. However, in the coming months additional sites will be announced in Scotland, Northern Ireland and elsewhere in Wales and England.

“We want everyone across the country to have access to fibre broadband connections no matter where they live,” said Exchequer Secretary Robert Jenrick.

“We’ve set a target of having 15 million premises able to connect to full fibre by 2025 with a nationwide network by 2033 and committed to ensuring the most rural areas aren’t left behind,” Jenrick added.

“This investment enables communities that have not previously benefited from broadband to leapfrog to the most advanced fibre technology – boosting productivity and enhancing quality of life.”

In January 2019, national broadband company Openreach announced that it was hiring 3,000 new trainee engineers to help it accelerate its plans to deploy ‘full fibre’ broadband connections across the country.

The £200m rollout of full fibre broadband is set to begin with 20 schools in Cornwall, seven in Northumberland, three in Cumbria and one school in Pembrokeshire.

“Our decision to tackle some of the hardest to reach places first is a significant shift in Government policy and will be instrumental in delivering our plans for a nationwide full fibre broadband network by 2033,” culture secretary Jeremy Wright said.

“Our rollout of superfast broadband transformed the UK’s digital landscape and our modern industrial strategy is focused on investing in the infrastructure that will make Britain fit for the future,” he added.

According to regulator Ofcom, the number of premises unable to receive decent broadband halved from 4 per cent to 2 per cent at the end of 2018. This considers a download speed of 10Mbit/s and an upload speed of 1Mbit/s as the reasonable minimum.

Last summer, the Government identified that approximately 10 per cent of UK premises, largely in rural and remote areas, would be unlikely to receive gigabit-capable connections commercially by 2033.

Full fibre, where fibre cables run all the way from the exchange to properties, is being rolled out with an ‘outside-in’ approach to ensure rural areas are not disadvantaged in the race for full fibre broadband.

This new approach will help ensure that the identified 10 per cent of premises are reached at the same time as the commercial roll-out happens across the country.

The Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme is prioritising remote parts of Cornwall, Cumbria, Northumberland and Pembrokeshire initially. However, in the coming months additional sites will be announced in Scotland, Northern Ireland and elsewhere in Wales and England.

“We want everyone across the country to have access to fibre broadband connections no matter where they live,” said Exchequer Secretary Robert Jenrick.

“We’ve set a target of having 15 million premises able to connect to full fibre by 2025 with a nationwide network by 2033 and committed to ensuring the most rural areas aren’t left behind,” Jenrick added.

“This investment enables communities that have not previously benefited from broadband to leapfrog to the most advanced fibre technology – boosting productivity and enhancing quality of life.”

In January 2019, national broadband company Openreach announced that it was hiring 3,000 new trainee engineers to help it accelerate its plans to deploy ‘full fibre’ broadband connections across the country.