Government publish Q2 2026 UK gigabit broadband rollout progress report

The Government’s Building Digital UK agency has published their calendar Q2 2026 progress report on their publicly subsidised gigabit broadband rollout schemes. The data reveals that some 1,462,910 premises have received coverage under BDUK’s gigabit programmes since their inception (up from 1.42m in March 2026), including 46,300 premises over the past quarter.

At present over 91% of UK premises can already access a 1000Mbps+ (1Gbps) capable broadband network (here) and Ofcom separately forecast that this could reach up to 95% by January 2029 (here). Most of this has been delivered by commercial roll-outs (predominantly focused on urban and semi-urban areas), but there are some areas in the final c.5-10% of premises that are simply too expensive for commercial providers.

Project Gigabit was originally established in 2021 and is designed to focus on those commercially unviable areas – usually “hard to reach” rural and semi-rural locations with no existing plans for a gigabit upgrade within the next 3 years. The project has already committed most of its budget up to 2032, but there are still some contracts yet to be awarded and others that have been scaled-back or switched suppliers (e.g. here, here, here, here, here and here).

The latest update builds on BDUK’s prior report and covers period from 1st April 2026 to 30th June 2026 (referenced below as Q1 2026/27), although it should be noted that the agency also publishes regular monthly updates to cover the progress of individual contracts (GIS) under the Project Gigabit scheme (August 2026 example). Today’s report is thus more of a general overall progress update, without any individual contract specifics.

The new report also includes some additional data and a regional breakdown of the figures, some of which we’ve included below. One key thing to note below is that Project Gigabit itself has still only delivered a relatively small amount of gigabit coverage, with the earlier Superfast Broadband Programme (SFBB) continuing to hold the lion’s share (largely because that ran for many years longer – Project Gigabit is much more recent).

Highlights of BDUK’s Gigabit Figures for April to June 2026

➤ BDUK interventions delivered gigabit-capable broadband coverage to 46,300 premises in Q1 2026/27, an increase of 1,420 (3%) premises compared with Q1 2025/26.

➤ Since the launch of BDUK gigabit programmes, an estimated cumulative total of 1,462,910 premises have received gigabit-capable coverage through BDUK subsidy.

➤ Delivery in Q1 2026/27 was primarily driven by Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy (GIS) contracts, which accounted for 87% (40,230 premises) of all premises passed during the first quarter of the year. Voucher schemes contributed 8% (3,580 premises), while Superfast interventions accounted for the remaining 5% (2,490 premises). The Hubs intervention reached the end of its delivery phase and therefore did not contribute to the overall number of premises passed in Q1 2026/27. The figures reported for GIS do not include delivery for contracts in Scotland in which BDUK is not the leading authority.

➤ Delivery continued to be concentrated in rural areas, which represented 90% (41,490 premises) of all premises passed during the quarter.

➤ Most premises passed were residential properties. In Q1 2026/27, 91% (41,940 premises) were classified as residential and 9% (3,980 premises) as commercial.

➤ England accounted for approximately three quarters of the delivery in Q1 2026/27 (79%, 36,540 premises), followed by Scotland (12%, 5,780 premises), Wales (7%, 3,170 premises), and Northern Ireland (2%, 770 premises).

➤ Delivery in Q1 2026/27 remained concentrated in large rural local authorities, with North Yorkshire recording the highest number of premises passed (2,910), followed by Wiltshire (2,160) and Somerset (1,820).

The results also mean that some 262,790 premises to benefit from BDUK’s interventions were classified as “urban“, with 1,199,050 being “rural“. In addition, of the total able to benefit, 868,550 premises came from areas that did not previously have any access to a “superfast” (30Mbps+) capable connection (some 570620 were from areas that DID have access to speeds of at least 30Mbps before the upgrade).

Gigabit Premises passed by year and BDUK intervention

Gigabit Premises Passed by Year, Country and Region