In a £26m contract, BT will connect over 650 primary schools in England’s hardest-to-reach areas with gigabit broadband, each capable of delivering lightning-fast speeds up to 500 times faster than their current speeds.
With the aid of the Department for Education, and the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, this collectively funded programme should allow for schools, most of which reside in rural locations, to have access to Gigabit-capable connectivity in time for December of 2025. Such measures hope to improve educational resources and by providing high speed internet.
The Schools Gigabit Connectivity Programme was founded with BT which is the largest comms and broadband provider in the UK. BT will be providing lightning-fast broadband services to over 650 schools in various regions of the United Kingdom. The connection is being set up with the help of Openreach, a business that is in charge of building and maintaining the UK’s largest telephone and broadband network.
The project will particularly benefit schools in isolated areas, ensuring uninterrupted internet access for students even during peak usage times. Additionally, it will facilitate global collaboration among students and provide access to a diverse range of educational tools, fostering a more engaging learning environment.
Ashish Gupta, Managing Director of Corporate and Public Sector at BT, expressed pride in BT’s pivotal role in this endeavor, emphasizing the transformative impact of high-speed broadband on education.
Baroness Barran, the Schools Minister, highlighted the importance of reliable internet access in enhancing educational opportunities for students, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas.
Julia Lopez, The Digital Infrastructure Minister, has stated that the government is committed to bridging the digital divide. She has said that the government will address this as a priority and that everyone in the UK will have high-speed broadband access.
The deployment of gigabit connectivity aligns with the government’s net zero ambitions, enabling schools to transition to more efficient and secure cloud-based services, contributing to a sustainable future.
Project Gigabit, funded by the government, aims to deliver lightning-fast broadband to underserved communities, driving economic growth and fostering digital inclusion across the UK.
