Gigabit Take-up Advisory Group publishes report on connectivity demand

17 Jun 2021 01:24 PM

Matt Warman MP described the government’s gigabit ambition as “a matter of social justice” at the launch of the Gigabit Take-up Advisory Group’s report on 16 June. The Minister for Digital Infrastructure lauded the work the GigaTAG panel had undertaken in collating its set of recommendations and noted that further work is needed to take them forward as the UK telecoms industry continues its investment in rolling out the next generation of connectivity.  

The report, the output of the GigaTAG—convened by Which?, the Federation of Small Businesses and CBI, with input from the Broadband Stakeholder Group—sets out measures for the government, industry and regulator in order to boost the demand and take-up of gigabit broadband by UK consumers and businesses.  

As Project Gigabit gets underway—with £1.2 billion of a total £5 billion funding pledged by government—to deploy gigabit in areas in which commercial rollout is not commercially viable, and industry investment gathers pace, research by GigaTAG found that around six in 10 (59%) consumers were not aware of gigabit-capable broadband, and a third (33%) of small and micro businesses have not heard of gigabit-capable broadband. 

GigaTAG identified some of the key barriers to take-up:

• For consumers: a lack of awareness, little benefit/perceived benefits (no “pull” to upgrade) and practical barriers to adoption, such as affordability or capability to engage 
• For small businesses: lack of understanding of gigabit services, limited awareness of the return in investment, and crucially— a lack of digital skills 

Click here for the full press release