Britain’s Super‑Fast Broadband Mission: Mission Accomplished!
In a headline‑worthy flick of government wires, Matt Hancock has announced that the UK’s promise to bring super‑fast broadband to 95 % of every home and business by the end of 2017 is now a reality. ThinkBroadband’s latest figures back this up, showing that more than 19 of 20 premises can now get speeds of 24 Mbps or faster — over twice the benchmark of a typical family’s internet.
What All This Means for Us
- Fast‑lane freedom: The government’s £1.7 billion rollout has installed ultra‑fast connections in more than 4.5 million homes and businesses that would otherwise have been stuck in dial‑up mediocrity.
- Rural revival: The bulk of these upgrades hit the countryside, closing the “digital divide” one fibre at a time.
- Economic boost: When the rollout ran from 2013‑2016, it created ≈50,000 new local jobs and churned up an extra £8.9 billion in local turnover.
Hancock’s Take
“Over the last five years, the rollout has made super‑fast speeds a reality for more than 4.5 million homes and businesses that would otherwise have missed out. But there’s still more to do in building a Britain that’s fit for the future. We’re reaching thousands more premises every single week, and have committed to making affordable, reliable, high‑speed broadband a legal right to everyone by 2020,” he said.
Last‑Month Bash
December turned out to be a busy one for Openreach, the government’s pivotal partner on this massive infrastructure project. They worked through the winter to keep the rollout on track, adding around 800,000 new homes and businesses into the UK Government BDUK programme alongside commercial delivery. That haul pushed the 95 % target over the finish line in December 2017.
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