Rural homes could be left behind in ultrafast broadband rollout

Boris Johnson initially pledged to spend £5 billion so that 100 per cent of the country would have access to such a connection by 2025. Dame Meg Hillier, the chairman of the public accounts committee, said: “DCMS’ planning and project management here show all the signs of the previous rollout – that the focus will continue to be on the easier to reach areas and there is still no clear plan for the hardest to reach communities.” DCMS could not really explain how broadband has got as far as it has in this critical national strategy, beyond “thanks to Virgin Media”, and it still does not have a real plan for getting the rest of the way to its own downgraded targets. “What DCMS does know full well is it can’t rely on the private sector to get fast broadband to the hardest to reach, excluded and rural areas, and despite its repeated promises to do exactly that we are apparently little nearer to closing ‘the great digital divide’ developing across the UK nor addressing the social and economic inequality it brings with it.” Following the report, a spokesman for DCMS said: "It is misleading to suggest we are reliant on the commercial sector to hit our target which we remain on track to meet. "We are investing £5 billion so hard-to-reach areas can get gigabit speeds, have already upgraded 600,000 premises, and in three years national coverage has rocketed from six per cent to 65 per cent. Andrew Glover, Chair of the Internet Services Providers' Association, which represents broadband companies, said: "This report rightfully highlights the ongoing challenges in achieving gigabit rollout targets.