In our report in January 2021, we found that the Department was still developing its £5 billion programme to subsidise roll-out to the hardest to reach 20% of the UK’s 31 million premises and could not tell us when it intends to deliver major milestones, such as the letting of contracts. We were increasingly concerned that those in rural areas may have to pay more and may reach gigabit broadband speeds late.64 At our evidence session, the Department confirmed that it does not intend to leave behind hard-to-reach areas, as rollout of Project Gigabit is based on the “Outside-In” procurement approach.65 This approach identifies non-commercial areas and builds to these premises in parallel with commercial building, ensuring that no areas are systematically left behind.66