The government has announced it is to release £400 million worth of investment to boost high-speed broadband in the UK – and that’s expected to unlock a further £1 billion of private sector investment, making life infinitely easier for telecommuters and kick-starting a work from home revolution.
How will the £400m broadband fund help telecommuters?
If you work remotely, you’ll appreciate that a poor network connection can quickly put an end to your productivity – but the £400 million investment that has been release to support a new Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund could see ultra-fast broadband deployed in a further 2 million premises across the UK.
The fund will run for four years, and is being supported by 100% business rates relief on new full-fibre infrastructure, and if the investment is matched with funding from the private sector and other sources, such as local authorities, it could see as much as £1 billion getting pumped into the broadband industry.
It’s hoped this investment will be enough to all but make buffering a thing of the past, and allow households to connect to multiple devices at once without slowing down connection speeds. And that’s good news for anyone who works remotely or works from home – the government is hoping this will encourage more people to work flexibly, and take pressure off key transport routes at peak times.
How will the investment revolutionise broadband in the UK?
As it stands, most UK homes are connected to the broadband via copper wires which are routed into each property through the green box that sits somewhere along the street – bizarrely, this means connection can be affected by something as basic as distance from the green box, and how many other people in the street are using the connection at the same time.
The fibre revolution will see ultra-fast fibre broadband rolled out right across the UK, meaning many of the green boxes are bypassed as internet is provided directly to each house via glass or plastic tubes. This will also benefit businesses and potentially kick-start a work from home revolution, particularly in the digital sector.
Karen Bradley, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said: “The Digital Economy Council will play a vital part in helping us achieve our aim of making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business with the benefits enjoyed throughout society and in every part of our country.”
Has your business benefited from ultra-fast, fibre broadband? Or have it enabled you to work from home? Let us know how the broadband revolution has benefited you or your business.
