Building on the completion of similar work in rural parts of the county to London’s eastern border, more than 9,500 more homes and businesses in Essex that have to date been struggling with older, slower broadband services are to be upgraded to fast and reliable internet by Openreach, as the government expands its Project Gigabit roll-out.
Introduced in 2021 with the aim of accelerating the UK’s recovery from Covid-19, the £5bn Project Gigabit programme was set up to boost high-growth sectors such as tech and the creative industries, and levelling up the country by spreading wealth and creating jobs.
The programme specifically targets places typically regarded as too expensive for commercial providers to reach. It was designed from the outset to help meet the growing demand for reliable connectivity, stimulating local rural economies and reducing regional disparities by enabling remote working and attracting new businesses.
At its launch, the previous UK government said the scheme would prioritise areas with slow connections that would otherwise be left behind in commercial broadband companies’ plans and give rural communities access to the fastest internet on the market, helping to grow the economy.
One of the first acts by the Labour administration elected in July 2024 was to reconfirm the original objectives to build a broadband infrastructure that would see 85% of the UK have gigabit-capable connectivity by the end of 2025, and full nationwide coverage by 2030.
A month later, the UK government announced it was investing up to £800m to modernise broadband infrastructure in rural areas of England, Scotland and Wales.
Explaining why it was ramping up the scheme, the UK government said hundreds of thousands of rural homes and businesses were still struggling to fulfil basic online tasks due to outdated infrastructure, making it necessary to obtain major internet speed upgrades and narrow the existing digital divide.
Part of the move saw the UK’s leading broadband provider, Openreach, engaged to deliver access to gigabit-capable broadband to 290,000 homes and businesses across the nation. Initial rural UK communities able to access ultra-fast broadband speeds included those in the countries of Wiltshire, Hertfordshire, Powys and Devon. Over 1.3 million premises across the UK have been upgraded through UK government support to date.
Backed by an extra £8.3m in government funding, the Essex development extends broadband roll-out to more homes and businesses in Essex – connecting communities that would have otherwise missed out in earlier commercial plans. This latest investment builds on the £1.2bn originally earmarked for the provider to build in disconnected areas.
In addition, the development marks the first Project Gigabit contract to target pockets of poor connectivity in towns and cities, as well as the countryside. “Project Gigabit is bringing better internet to more blackspots across the UK, thanks to government backing,” said UK telecoms minister Liz Lloyd. “This is the very first contract that’s focusing on urban areas, not just the countryside. Pockets of our towns and cities are still left disconnected. To reach our 99% coverage target, it is vital no urban neighbourhood slips through the net.
“We’ve already got the ball rolling to connect areas of Essex missing out, and now we’re extending our efforts so that even more residents can access the digital opportunities they deserve.”
Openreach is to begin work to connect the premises immediately, covering areas including Brentwood, Chelmsford, Basildon, Clacton and Ardleigh. While much of Essex can be quickly upgraded through existing underground ducting that avoids the need for digging up roads, some areas – including housing estates, business parks and blocks of flats – are currently connected via underground cables without it, making them too costly for providers to reach via commercial roll-out due to the additional engineering works.
Openreach partnership director for London and the South East, Kieran Wines, said: “As well as reaching rural communities, it’s vital we keep strengthening connectivity in towns and cities. This Project Gigabit contract helps us extend full-fibre broadband into more urban neighbourhoods across Essex, adding to the almost 575,000 homes and businesses across the county that we’ve already reached through our own roll-out.”
