Paul King, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Coastal Regeneration, has written to Sir Chris Bryant MP, Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms, asking why there has been so little progress in delivering the Government’s Project Gigabit programme across Kent, despite the procurement work starting more than three years ago.
Building Digital UK is the Government-sponsored agency tasked with delivering the £112m scheme and it promised 1,000 megabits (mbps) per second to over 50,000 homes and businesses, when the contract was finally signed in January 2024. To date, BDUK have still not published any indications as to when local areas are likely to benefit from these connections – or details on whether any premises have been connected to date.
“It is difficult to understand why it is taking so long for these much-needed connections to be delivered at the pace required.”
Cllr King wrote: “Good broadband connectivity is essential to enable any business to thrive and for residents to access the services and opportunities they need.
“We understand the complexities and challenges involved in building broadband infrastructure in hard-to-reach areas but it is difficult to understand why it is taking so long for these much-needed connections to be delivered at the pace required.”
Cllr King also raised the lack of information available to home and business owners about when they might receive the new broadband capability as a concern. He explained this made it difficult for them to make decisions about tying in with providers who will not be able to offer services on the new infrastructure.
And there are at least 100,000 properties in the county who could have the fast speeds who do not feature in the current programme and there is no suggestion if or when they might in any future plans for expansion of the project.
Cllr King added: “This is simply not acceptable. Our region continues to lag substantially behind with respect to broadband connectivity while the UK’s Industrial Strategy 2025 is contingent on unlocking the value of data and accelerating AI adoption across businesses. If this Government is serious about economic growth then digital infrastructure must come first – without reliable internet access, AI is nothing more than a buzzword.”
Cllr King asked for the restoration of the broadband voucher scheme in this interim period, so communities can request a better broadband connection in their area.
A reply to the letter is awaited from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.
Further information
- You can view the full letter from Cllr King to Sir Chris Bryant
- More on broadband in Kent here: Broadband - Kent County Council
