People across the Moorlands are set to benefit from a lightning-fast broadband boost, as 76,300 rural homes and businesses in Staffordshire are to get access to faster broadband speeds as part of a £5 billion plan to improve internet access in the UK.

The Project Gigabit fund aims to upgrade digital infrastructure for millions of people in hard-to-reach areas to accelerate the country's recovery from Covid, boost high-growth sectors such as tech and the creative industries, and bring the speed and reliability people need to start and run businesses.

Homes and businesses in Staffordshire Moorlands are amongst the 1,850,000 additional premises across 26 English counties that will get access to gigabit speed internet of 1,000 megabits per second according to new details published this week. That's enough to download an HD movie in less than 30 seconds and lay the foundations for next-generation tech such as 8K-quality video streaming.

The aim is for 60 per cent of all households to have access to gigabit speeds by the end of this year, and at least 85 per cent by 2025.

Moorlands MP Karen Bradley welcomed the scheme, saying: "Homes and businesses in the Moorlands have suffered from poor internet connectivity for too long, leaving families battling for bandwidth and businesses unable to take advantage of emerging online markets across the world.

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden added: "The broadband revolution will not only bring reliability and connectivity to rural homes, but it will fire up high-growth sectors, create jobs, allow everyone to access the lightning-fast speeds they deserve."

"Project Gigabit is our national mission to level up rural areas by giving them the fastest internet speeds on the market.

"Millions more rural homes and businesses will now be lifted out of the digital slow lane thanks to our mammoth £5 billion investment and one the quickest rollouts in Europe.

"This broadband revolution will create jobs, power up businesses and allow everyone to access vital services at lightning-fast speed, helping us build back better from the pandemic."