Sally-Ann has today hailed new figures that show 69.84% of homes and businesses across the South East have access to rapid and reliable internet.
Gigabit broadband is now available for 70 per cent of homes and businesses across the country, and this is the result of the Government’s £5 billion Project Gigabit which is helping to better connect rural towns and villages with lightning-fast broadband speeds.
This represents a significant rise since 2019 when gigabit coverage stood at just 7 per cent, and it is also a demonstration of levelling up in action with a total of nearly 20 million premises connected since 2019 with further targets of 85 per cent coverage by 2025.
In the last five months alone, one million premises have been connected to gigabit networks, a phenomenal achievement given the first million premises took more than eight years to connect. The rate at which gigabit-capable internet connections are installed has increased threefold, ensuring that more homes and businesses do not have to wait to have access to the internet speeds they need and deserve.
Commenting on Project Gigabit, Sally-Ann said:
“Lightning-fast broadband is vital to levelling up here in Hastings and Rye but for far too long the hard-to-reach areas of the South East have suffered from slow internet speeds.
That is why I am delighted that Project Gigabit is making real progress in the region with 69.84% of homes and businesses now having access to rapid and reliable internet, and I’ll continue to encourage the Government to go further and faster in their ambitions.”