Shailesh Vara MP has welcomed the Government’s announcement for Project Gigabit which is a new £5 billion scheme to bring faster broadband to hard to reach areas.

The scheme will benefit 500,000 homes and businesses, including some in Cambridgeshire, which will be amongst the first to benefit.

The contracts for the first group of areas will go to tender in the spring and work is expected to start in the first half of 2022.

The Government funded project will prioritise areas that currently have slow connections and which would otherwise have been left out in broadband companies’ rollout plans.

The Government has also said that the successful Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme will be relaunched with a £210 million cash injection to give people in eligible rural areas immediate financial help to get gigabit speeds.

Moreover, the Government will make up to £110 million available to connect public sector buildings, such as GP surgeries, libraries and schools, in the hardest to reach parts of the UK.

Mr Vara said:

“I welcome Project Gigabit and the fact that homes and businesses in my constituency and in Cambridgeshire more generally will be among the first to benefit with this project to achieve faster broadband.

This will make a huge difference and be of benefit to many of my constituents living in rural and hard to reach areas. The investment is particularly important as we recover from the pandemic.”