Broadband boost for rural Britain

[Jazzy]

£50m funding package will help Wiltshire, Norfolk and Devon & Somerset next to get superfast connections.



The Government has announced a new tranche of funding to kick-start superfast broadband in rural areas. Wiltshire, Norfolk and Devon & Somerset were chosen from 18 bids for a part of the £530 million ear-marked for new projects.



Later on this year, the Government will make announcements on the funding arrangements for every local authority to improve its broadband.



Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that “Broadband is becoming just as essential to homes and businesses as electricity and telephone lines and it is now only a matter for time before people in these three rural areas have access to the connection speeds more commonly associated with towns and cities.” He said that the Government planned “for virtually every community in the UK to have access to superfast broadband.



North Yorkshire, Cumbria and the Scottish Highlands already have broadband pilots, and a further 18 bids were received for this new round. Devon and Somerset dominates the new projects, receiving £30 million, while Norfolk will get £15 million and Wiltshire £4 million.



The local authorities will now upgrade their networks and “within a year” it is hoped that internet service providers will be using the new infrastructure on a wholesale basis.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/broadband/8540269/Broadband-boost-for-rural-Britain.html