£200 million rollout of full fibre broadband begins in UK
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An “Outside In” approach is being taken to make sure rural areas are not disadvantaged in the race for full fibre broadband.
This new approach will help ensure that the identified 10 per cent of premises are reached at the same time as the commercial roll out happens across the UK.
The Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme is the first step of this approach.
The RGC Programme will trial a model connecting local hubs in rural areas, starting with primary schools.
Working with the Department for Education, DCMS has identified the first 31 schools eligible for a connection under the scheme.
These new speeds will enable whole classes to simultaneously surf the internet on tablets as part of structured lessons, and gives schools easier access to online training and educational learning.
Access to cloud services not only means savings as staff go paperless, but will also allow the decommissioning of the school’s local servers to reduce hardware, maintenance and IT support costs.
Other public buildings will then be added throughout the course of the programme, for example health sites and community halls. ■