UK will miss 2025 target for full-fibre broadband rollout, MPs warn
January 8, 2021, 12:13 pm

UK will miss 2025 target for full-fibre broadband rollout, MPs warn

An engineer works on a full-fibre broadband link on Grimsay in the Outer Hebrides.

Government failures will leave thousands of rural homes with slow broadband, spending watchdog says

Boris Johnson’s promise to deliver nationwide “turbocharged” broadband by 2025 will be missed because of a catalogue of government failures, parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded.

In a timely report released on Friday as many children struggle to gain access to remote learning during lockdown, the public accounts committee has criticised the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for failing to make any “meaningful progress” in delivering policies or legal changes to achieve a rapid rollout of gigabit broadband.

As a result, thousands of homes and businesses, particularly in rural areas, could be left with slow broadband for many years, MPs warned.

The report has been released amid growing concerns that a “digital divide” is leaving many pupils adrift during the coronavirus pandemic. Ofcom estimates that more than 880,000 children live in a household with only a mobile internet connection.

Johnson first proposed a 2025 target for full-fibre broadband in June 2019 as he stood to become leader of the Conservative party. In a column for the Daily Telegraph, he wrote that a standing promise by Theresa May to introduce superfast broadband by 2033 was “ laughably unambitious”.

“If we want to unite our country and our society, we should commit now to delivering full fibre to every home in the land not in the mid-2030s – but in five years at the outside,” he wrote.

In the 2019 general election, the Conservatives pledged to roll out gigabit broadband connectivity across the entire country by 2025. But in November 2020, the government rowed back on the target and said it was aiming for 85% instead.

Friday’s report says that Johnson’s original target was unachievable and doubts that the 85% figure can be met within five years – a delay that could leave businesses and homes with slow broadband.

“We are increasingly concerned that those in rural areas may have to pay more and may reach gigabit broadband speeds late.

“Given the impact of Covid-19, the department must do more to protect those with limited access to the internet.

“We remain unconvinced that if and when rural users finally do get gigabit broadband they will enjoy the same choice of service provider and the same protections as their urban counterparts,” the report said.

The committee criticised the government for not allocating three-quarters of the £5bn total to roll out gigabit broadband until after 2024-25.

“ is still developing its £5bn programme to subsidise rollout to the hardest to reach 20% of the UK’s 31m premises and could not tell us when it intends to deliver major milestones, such as the letting of contracts,” the report concluded.

Senior civil servants in DCMS were also accused of being vagueabout the potential costs and delays from removing telecommunications equipment supplied by Huawei, which must be stripped from the UK’s 5G network by 2027 due to security risks.

The Labour MP Meg Hillier, the chair of the public accounts committee, said that the country’s third lockdown has highlighted the government’s failure to get to grips with its pledged broadband rollout.

“Due to a litany of planning and implementation failures at DCMS, those promises are slipping further and further out of reach – even worse news for the ‘rural excluded’ who face years trying to recover with substandard internet connectivity.

“Government cannot allow digital inequality to continue to compound and exacerbate the economic inequality that has been so harshly exposed in the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

A DCMS spokesperson said the department disagreed with the report and claimed it contained some inaccuracies.

“Gigabit capable broadband is being rolled out rapidly – from one in 10 households in 2019 to one in three households today. We expect that half of all households will have access to gigabit speeds by the end of this year, and the UK is deploying at a faster build rate than comparable countries.

“This is evidence of the progress we have made to support the private sector and reduce barriers to roll out. We will take further rapid steps this year alongside the investment being made as part of our record £5bn UK Gigabit Programme, which will focus on ensuring the hardest to reach 20% of the country is not left behind,” the spokesperson said.

source: Rajeev Syal

Levant

Covid in Wales: level 4 lockdown restrictions to remain in place The Current Turkish War Is Against Kurdistan Region, Not Against the PKK

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”