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The UK needs to increase the rate at which it is deploying new gigabit-capable networks four-fold if it is to meet an ambitious target to connect every home and business in the country to the technology by the end of 2025.
This is according to a new report into the state of the UK's broadband infrastructure from the National Audit Office (NAO), which warned this goal will be especially difficult to achieve in the hardest to reach areas.
Meanwhile, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) told the NAO that the final one per cent of premises are likely to prove too expensive to connect using the £5 billion Future Programme funding already committed to the scheme.
According to the NAO, the gigabit rollout will require the laying of around half a million kilometres of cable to connect a total of 31 million premises to the technology. It noted the timeline set out by the government is very challenging and called on DCMS to present a clear plan and schedule for the Future Programme that details how it will meet the proposed deadline.
Head of the NAO Gareth Davies said: "To deliver the government's vision of achieving nationwide gigabit connectivity, the department must manage the tension between meeting a challenging timeline and serving those in greatest need. Failure to do so risks leaving the hardest to reach areas even further behind and widening the urban-rural divide."
At present, it noted only 27 per cent of UK premises are able to access gigabit-capable infrastructure, with just 14 per cent of homes and businesses reached by full fibre networks. This is one of the lowest coverage rates in Europe, the organisation observed.
Elsewhere, the NAO report also looked at how previous efforts to extend superfast broadband coverage in the UK have been going. It observed that while initiatives such as the Superfast Programme achieved their goals of providing 95 per cent of the UK with superfast broadband coverage by 2017 broadly on time, many people in the country continue to suffer from poor connectivity.
Indeed, 1.6 million premises are still unable to access broadband speeds of at least 30Mbps.
The NAO explained that these projects encouraged deployers to focus on easier to reach premises, which means that while urban areas now enjoy 97 per cent superfast coverage, this drops to 80 per cent in rural areas and just 66 per cent in remote parts of Northern Ireland.
It added that DCMS has so far focused on improving coverage rather than speed, but as internet use is rising by 40 per cent each year - driven largely by video streaming - these lower-speed connections will not be good enough. DCMS must therefore switch its attention to ensuring that the UK's broadband network is able to cope with future demands.
"The UK has a broadband network that does not reach everyone and is not fully future-proof," Mr Davies said. "Less than a decade after launching the Superfast Programme, the government has identified the need to upgrade the broadband network again.
