Thousands of BT, Sky, and TalkTalk users unlock fastest broadband speeds available in the UK

a hand plugs an ethernet cable into the back of a wifi router

Under Project Gigabit, a £5 billion scheme to improve household broadband speeds across the UK, thousands more rural homes and businesses across England and Wales will enjoy an internet boost

GETTY IMAGES
Aaron Brown

By Aaron Brown


Published: 13/08/2024

- 09:51

Rural homes and businesses will benefit the most in the latest upgrade

  • Latest push to upgrade broadband speeds across the UK announced
  • Some 300,000 homes and businesses will enjoy a boost
  • UK Government has identified rural areas in England and Wales
  • Full-fibre broadband can unlock download speeds of up to 1,600Mbps
  • Average household broadband speed currently sits at 69Mbps

Struggling with sluggish broadband speeds? With any luck, this terrible internet will soon be a thing of the past.

The Government has announced the latest expansion of Project Gigabit, designed to upgrade homes and businesses across the UK to full-fibre infrastructure, which offers speeds of up to 1,600Mbps — that's over 23x faster than the average household connection in the UK. That new limit was announced earlier this year, when Openreach confirmed plans to almost double the previous download speeds for millions.

The latest tranche will cover 312,000 remises in rural areas across Britain. The £800 million investment will see rural properties in Wales upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband for the first time.

openreach engineer stands in a high-vis jacket with a box of tools outside of his van

BT-owned Openreach will be behind the effort to modernise the ageing internet infrastructure across rural parts of the country

OPENREACH PRESS OFFICE

Most of the upgrade work will be carried out by BT-owned Openreach, which connects 99% of homes and businesses in the country. Broadband suppliers like EE, TalkTalk, BT, Sky, Plusnet, and Vodafone all rely on cables owned and maintained by Openreach to connect to customers — so anyone with these brands could see a dramatic uptick in speeds when the upgrade works are completed.

In comparison, Virgin Media O2 is the second-biggest network with under 60% of all premises able to connect to its cables — although every connection can reach gigabit speeds.

The aim of Project Gigabit, launched under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is to ensure lightning-fast broadband is accessible to the whole of the UK by 2030. Under the ongoing scheme, contracts worth £288 million have already been signed for the firm to connect nearly 97,000 homes and businesses in England and Wales.

As soon as the infrastructure to your home has been upgraded to fibre-optic, you'll be able to access the fastest broadband speeds available. But full-fibre broadband isn't just about quicker downloads ...these connections are more stable and aren't impacted by bad weather.

Unfortunately, it also means you'll lose access to a traditional landline phone.

If you're connected with any of the Openreach-powered broadband brands, you'll be able to switch to another supplier and get the same broadband speeds. If you're outside of the minimum term of your contract, jumping between providers is the best way to ensure you're always getting the best price.

Openreach CEO Clive Selley said: "Research shows that full fibre provides a host of economic, social and environmental benefits – and I believe we’re the best in the business at delivering it. I’m proud we’ve been chosen, through a fiercely competitive process, and we’re already cracking on with the job.

"This is a British infrastructure success story. Our network already reaches more than 15 million urban and rural premises and, wherever we build, we bring the widest choice of providers for customers. I’m confident we can reach as many as 30 million homes by the end of the decade if the conditions remain supportive."

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) confirmed that talks are also already under way to secure further contracts to connect 215,800 more premises across England, Scotland, and Wales under the Johnson-era upgrade scheme.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: "Over the past decade, the UK’s broadband rollout has clearly not happened fast enough and has overlooked too many areas, especially in Scotland and Wales.

“Robust digital infrastructure is essential for growth, productivity and competitiveness and this shortfall not only poses risks to our economic stability, but also entrenches existing inequalities across the country.

"We are fixing this by delivering for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses up and down the country, focusing on the areas that were not prioritised by the previous government, such as Wales.

“Today marks a significant milestone in delivering on our promise to redouble our efforts to achieve full gigabit coverage by 2030 and lay the foundations for a more inclusive, dynamic and prosperous future for all citizens.”

Back in April, Ofcom data confirmed that 8 out of 10 homes across the UK can now access eye-wateringly fast gigabit broadband speeds. That's the equivalent of 24 million UK homes.

But despite the increased speeds available, the average download speed in UK households remains around 69.4Mbps — suggesting that most people still aren't taking advantage of the faster connections.

While 69.4Mbps is enough for most individuals, it will begin to struggle in busier households — with multiple people making video calls, downloading software updates, watching video, streaming music, uploading to social media, listening to podcasts, and much more.

With a pivot to streaming-only television — Sky has slashed the number of satellite dish engineers at the company as its broadband-powered Sky Glass 55" became the best-selling Smart TV in the UK last year, and the team behind Freeview switching from traditional terrestrial broadband to a streaming-only solution known as Freely, which looks set to be the default for all new Smart TVs — a decent connection will only become more important, something some campaigners fear will leave millions without access to television.

Research has shown that speedier internet can even boost the value of your home.

a young woman holds a tablet by the full-fibre box in her home Once your local area has been upgraded to full-fibre broadband, you'll be able to call your supplier and switch to a new package with faster download speeds for buffer-free streaming GETTY IMAGES

Digital infrastructure minister Chris Bryant said: “Far too many rural citizens and businesses are still stuck with outdated internet infrastructure, not being able to fulfil day-to-day tasks as easily as people living in our towns and cities.

“We have been clear we want to achieve sustained economic growth in every corner of Britain, and this starts by ensuring our communities have the infrastructure they need to thrive.

"This monumental deal with Openreach will make a real difference to communities – such as staying in touch with loved ones or being able to do business no matter where you are.”

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Conservative shadow science secretary Andrew Griffith said: “Over 80% of Britain now has access to the very fastest internet thanks to the last Conservative government’s £5 billion investment in Project Gigabit, making it easier for millions of families to work and play online.

"Whilst it is good news that Labour is carrying on with the progress we made, we will work to hold them to account to ensure they do not recreate the digital divide they oversaw in Wales."

TechBroadbandStreaming

You may like