To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many public sector hubs have been set up as part of Project Gigabit; if she will publish a list of those hubs; and what estimate she has made of the number of addressable premises that have been connected as a result of each of those hubs.
Answered on
19 October 2022
Since 2019, we have connected 6,600 public sector buildings and assets through our Local Full Fibre Network, Rural Gigabit Connectivity, and GigaHubs programmes. Our delivery figures are updated in Building Digital UK's quarterly Project Gigabit progress updates and will be confirmed in its 2023 Performance Report. We are considering how and where to publish further hub details.
As part of Project Gigabit, the government has made up to £110 million available to connect up to 7,000 rural public buildings such as schools, GP surgeries and libraries. Each hub is expected to result in at least one premises passed by a gigabit-capable connection - this is a conservative assumption as hubs are intended to stimulate local build from suppliers.
In June 2022, we announced a joint £82 million investment with the Department for Education (DfE) to connect up to 3,000 primary schools with gigabit broadband over the next three years.