Rutland residents and businesses have until Tuesday 8 June to take part in a survey to assess current broadband coverage and future demand for network connectivity in the county and surrounding areas.

Project Gigabit Connecting Cambridgeshire and Building Digital UK (BDUK) have launched a Public Review of broadband capability in Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and parts of adjacent areas in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire as well as Rutland. The information provided will be used to help improve broadband coverage across this region.

Through 'Project Gigabit' the Government is investing £5 billion in a programme of work to bring lightning-fast, reliable broadband to everyone in the UK. The target is to reach a minimum of 85% "gigabit-capable" coverage by 2025 with an ambition to get as close to 100% as soon as possible after.

Residents, businesses, communities and suppliers in Rutland are invited to respond to the Public Review by completing the Connecting Cambridgeshire broadband survey at: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ProjectGigabit

Further information is available online, including a postcode checker showing current broadband speeds, at: www.connectingcambridgeshire.co.uk/about/project-gigabit-lot-5-public-review

Also part of the Project Gigabit programme is the UK Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme launched by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport on 8 April 2021. This will provide vouchers worth up to £1,500 for households and up to £3,500 for businesses in the hardest-to-reach rural areas (with current speeds of less than 100Mbps) to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections when part of a group scheme.