FactWatch: Testing Labour's pledge to roll out free full-fibre broadband

Elections are a time of claim and counter-claim. Throughout the 2019 campaign the Evening Standard and factchecking organisation FullFact will be testing some of those statements in our FactWatch column and delivering the verdict whether they are right or wrong

Labour said maintenance costs for free full-fibre broadband would be around £230m a year

AFP via Getty Images

5 December 2019

The pledge

When Labour announced its pledge to roll out free full-fibre broadband, the party said maintenance costs would be around £230 million a year.

Analysis

This was based on a miscalculation. Data suggests costs would be two to four times this amount. Labour based its figures on analysis which estimated that costs over 30 years would be £6.9 billion which they divided by 30 to get an annual cost of £230 million.

The actual amount the Government would need to spend is much higher because of the “present value of money” which is based on the idea that an amount of money today is worth more than the same amount in the future.