Rural Hampshire residents with slow internet speeds offered £1,500 by government to boost connection

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it has issued around 45,000 vouchers in the gigabit broadband voucher scheme – including a 1,000 in Hampshire – worth more than £90m, to subsidise the cost of building faster broadband for homes and businesses.

The vouchers are worth up to £1,500 for rural homes and up to £3,500 for small and medium-sized businesses in rural areas, provided they apply as a collective of two or more properties.

Digital infrastructure minister Matt Warman also announced a new task force involving industry leaders to push more people to take up the high-speed connections.

‘Today I urge people in rural communities in the digital slow lane to apply for the immediate financial help available so they can seize the benefits of better connectivity – from making work easier to catching up with family and friends,' he said.