DCMS this week published the findings of the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review and detailed the next steps to greater connectivity. They reported that they had met their target to provide superfast coverage to 95% of UK premises and expect this figure to reach 97% by 2020.
The Government extended their promise on full fibre, pledging to provide a connection to full fibre for 15 million premises by 2025, with a view to nationwide coverage by 2033.The document details the steps Government is planning to take to achieve this, including the employment of an ‘outside in’ strategy to support the deployment of full fibre in the commercially most difficult to reach areas.The paper also expresses the Government’s desire for the UK to become a world leader in 5G, setting a target for the majority of the population to have 5G coverage by 2027.
The Country Land and Business Association [Alliance Member] put out a press release welcoming the Government’s intention to reach difficult areas, but reiterating that “Many rural areas fall short of a 4G service due to the inability of mobile network operators to resolve poor signal and mobile not-spots. Rural business must not be side-lined. It is vital that 4G coverage is put in place first because a future 5G service relies on 4G infrastructure.’
For more details, please see the full report, available here.