Government promotes UK’s fast rural broadband scheme

A £1.7 billion project to bring superfast internet to rural parts of the UK is set to be bolstered by a national advertising campaign as the government tries to encourage use of the heavily subsidised broadband network.

Ministers want to make sure people are aware of the plans to connect rural areas to high-speed broadband, which is a central aim of a digital strategy being led by Sajid Javid, the culture secretary. But the state-backed broadband scheme, being led by BT, has been criticised for focusing on supply of superfast networks rather than encouraging people to use internet services that are already available.