Millions of homes and businesses in rural England could benefit from a £5 billion broadband upgrade pledged by the government.

New details published today reveal up to 1,850,000 additional premises will get access to gigabit speed internet of 1,000 megabits per second - enough to download a HD movie in less than 30 seconds.

It brings the current total number of premises in scope for the government-funded coverage to 2.2 million.

The roll out of the “fastest broadband speeds on the market” will be spread across 26 English counties.

The move follows several announcements this year for Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland as part of the government’s ‘Project Gigabit,’ which aims to fund the upgrade of digital infrastructure in remote areas.

“Project Gigabit is our national mission to level up rural areas by giving them the fastest internet speeds on the market,” said digital secretary Oliver Dowden. “Millions more rural homes and businesses will now be lifted out of the digital slow lane thanks to our mammoth £5 billion investment and one the quickest rollouts in Europe.”

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