£250m Government Pot To Take Superfast Broadband Round The UK

An extra £250m of government funding has been added to the £1.2m already invested in ensuring 95% of UK homes and businesses will have access to superfast broadband by 2017.

Local projects from around the country will receive parts of this money and Whitehall claims rural, hard-to-reach locations are set to benefit the most.

The news comes as part of the government’s plan to secure Britain’s economic future by providing the entire nation with high quality Internet access.

It claims the allocation of the new funding will secure this for as many families and businesses as possible up and down the country.

“Superfast broadband will benefit everyone – whether they need it for work, to do homework or simply to download music or films,” claimed Maria Miller, UK culture secretary.

“We want to make sure that Britain is one of the best countries in the world for broadband and the extra £250m we are investing will help ensure communities around the UK are not left behind in the digital slow lane,” she added.

The claimed financial benefits of the initiative include a return of £20 for every £1 invested and the creation of an additional 56,000 jobs by 2024. Work on the current roll out is also expected to boost local economies by £1.5bn.

It is hoped that current investments in broadband will lead to rural economies receiving a boost of £275m each month – or £9m each day, by 2024.

“Nothing will have a more spectacular effect on the rural economy than the roll out of superfast broadband. A decent broadband connection has the power to transform people’s lives, creating more rural jobs and a fairer society,” said Dan Rogerson, rural affairs minister at the Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs. 

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