2025 target for ‘gigabit broadband’ says UK Digital Secretary
Plans to achieve nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband is targeted for 2025, the Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan (pictured above) has confirmed.
The roll-out came into question when it was vaguely worded “as soon as possible” without a date in the Queen’s Speech, but Nicky Morgan has revealed that the 2025 goal stands.
However Boris Johnson’s original 2025 broadband focus was centred around full-fibre during the Conservative leadership race, which has gradually shifted to gigabit technology instead.
Speaking to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Ms Morgan admitted the deadline of 2025 was ambitious but still deliverable. “I am being very clear with the department, it is 2025 that we aiming for,” she said.
“I still use the phrase 2025 and so does the Prime Minister.”
The Government recently announced a new law which could provide millions of people living in flats with faster internet speeds by getting around rogue landlords who make upgrade work difficult.
Operators are required to seek permission from the building’s owner to enter the property and undertake the necessary upgrade works.
But improvements can be slow moving when landlords repeatedly ignore requests for access – and service providers say they get no response at all 40% of the time.
Ms Morgan also told MPs on Wednesday that it had received some 2,300 responses to its online harms white paper, which is designed to make the UK one of the safest places to be online.
“We need to get it right, and therefore we need to take time,” she explained.
Earlier, the Digital Secretary announced that tighter age verification measures for access to online pornography had been shelved and focused into the online harms.
