The government is no closer to providing fast broadband to rural areas, despite Boris Johnson’s levelling up rhetoric.
A report by the public accounts committee said the government was relying too heavily on companies, notably BT Openreach and Virgin Media O2, to achieve the pledge to roll out next-generation broadband. The private companies have proved unwilling to connect more remote, less profitable areas.
Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier said: “Despite repeated promises to do exactly that, we are apparently little nearer to closing ‘the great digital divide’ developing across the UK.”
