Kent's rural areas targeted for faster broadband in £112m rollout

Cityfibre has been awarded a £112m contract for rural properties in Kent

About 50,000 rural properties in Kent will benefit from "lightning fast" broadband as part of a national £5bn project, the government has said.

Cityfibre has won a £112m contract to provide the fastest available broadband as part of a government rollout.

It will target homes and businesses in rural areas, including around Ashford, Canterbury, Medway and Sheppey.

Ministers said the project would give households access to speeds of 1,000Mbps, or megabits per second.

Internet speeds across the UK average about 73Mbps.

The national scheme, known as Project Gigabit, aims to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to hard-to-reach communities, according to the government.

Once the gigabit-capable network has been built, residents and businesses will be able to request a connection from a broadband service provider to benefit from the faster speeds, according to the government.

'Survey work'

Medway Council leader Vince Maple said: "These improvements will help enable access to fast and reliable broadband to the more rural businesses and residents in Medway."

The government said it wanted 85% of the population to have access to gigabit broadband by 2025, with the whole country benefiting from the same speed by 2030.

It has not published details of which premises will benefit, or when the connections will be installed.

Kent County Council said: "We understand that further details are unlikely to be released until further planning and survey work is undertaken, which could take several months."

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