Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has announced Labour Government’s first Autumn Budget, earmarking over £500 million of funding next year to improve UK broadband speed and mobile coverage supporting Project Gigabit, with a focus on rural areas.
Previously, the UK's telecom infrastructure projects included two major initiatives.
This included the £1 billion Shared Rural Network, aimed at boosting 4G mobile coverage to 95 per cent by 2025, and the £5 billion Project Gigabit, which has already brought gigabit-capable broadband to over 85 per cent of the UK.
The new Labour Government has broadly maintained support for these programs, pushing for nationwide gigabit broadband and 5G by 2030.
During the announcement, Reeves echoed their goal of full coverage.
However, its progress so far has focused on leveraging existing initiatives, with a few changes outside a commitment to streamlining planning laws for network construction.
Reeves said: “With over £500 million of funding next year, my right honourable friend for science, technology and innovation secretary [ Peter Kyle] will continue to drive progress in improving reliable fast broadband and mobile coverage across our country, including in rural areas.”
This commitment leaves around £1.5 billion of the original Project Gigabit funding unallocated, raising questions about future funding consistency.
The official budget documents confirm this figure but have yet to clarify if Labour intends to fully deploy the original budget allocation, leaving room for speculation around long-term investment levels and coverage benchmarks.
Andrew Kernahan, Head of Public Affairs, ISPA UK, commented on the news of the investment: “Broadband rollout has been a UK success story in recent years, with gigabit-speed coverage available across 85 percent of the country, alongside 70 percent full-fibre availability.
“Primarily driven by billions of pounds of private investment from a range of operators, government investment has nonetheless been crucial in accelerating this programme.”
He said that the £500m public investment announcement was “welcome news” and would continue to fund underserved areas in going far by helping communities experience “the transformative benefits of gigabit broadband."
Kernahan commented: “The original funding for Project Gigabit was up to £5bn, and there is around £2bn yet to be spent - it is important that the government continues to commit to future funding to meet its target of full gigabit broadband coverage by 2030."
Sachin Agrawal, UK Managing Director at Zoho UK, also said the investment was “a welcome sight” and would help to drive progress in delivering reliable fast broadband and mobile coverage across the UK, including in rural areas.
“Businesses in rural areas play a vital role in unlocking local economic growth and more effectively distributing wealth across the country, and that requires suitable connectivity.”
Agrawal said that the budget was important to enable policies to help solve the growing regional divide.
However, he maintained that businesses also needed to play an important part in promoting economic distribution through their strategy and location.
“Businesses moving away from overcrowded urban centres can save significant costs on overheads and can help to facilitate flexible working models that enable staff to stay closer to home.
“This prevents the need for staff to relocate while offering a more affordable lifestyle with less congestion and can reduce 'brain-drain' from those areas, potentially enabling further prosperity,” he concluded.
