I am determined to ensure that families and businesses in rural locations who don't currently benefit from gigabit broadband get access to it as soon possible.
I recently met with Andrew Field, Programme Director for Project Gigabit, to discuss the Cross-Regional Framework which is intended to appoint a single supplier to build gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure for those hard-to-reach properties.
He tells me a contractor should be appointed by July, so I hope to provide an update as soon as the announcement is made.
A six-month period of survey and design will follow to determine a precise list of properties that should benefit from the scheme.