Most councils finalise broadband rollout plans
Three quarters of local authorities have completed their plans for rolling-out superfast broadband to rural areas.
Three quarters of local authorities have completed their plans for rolling-out superfast broadband to rural areas, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced today.
The Government has allocated money from a £530 million fund to each local authority in England to help provide 90 per cent of homes and businesses with access to superfast broadband and everyone with access to at least 2Mbps.
Local authorities are leading the broadband roll-out in their area and councils had until the end of April to agree their Local Broadband Plan with the Government. The plans detail how they will roll-out broadband in their area.
The Government is committed to providing businesses with the right conditions to grow and reliable infrastructure, including decent Internet access, is an essential part of that.
A total of 36 of the 47 projects in England had their plans approved. Two areas have awarded contracts, five are in procurement, while the rest are preparing to enter procurement.
The Government is warning the remaining councils that failing to agree plans soon could see funding withdrawn.
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt said:
Most local authorities are making excellent progress in delivering superfast broadband but there are still some that aren’t working hard enough or fast enough.
Residents and businesses in the Black Country, East Riding, Essex, Portsmouth, Southampton and Telford & Wrekin risk being left in the broadband slow lane unless the councils sort out their broadband plans.
We’ve put our money on the table and now we need every council to do the same, for the sake of jobs, growth and public services in their area.
The Government has awarded additional funding to three projects and the extra amount is:
- Devon £1.7m
- Herefordshire £3.75m
- Rutland £110,000
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also been allocated money from the £530 million and the devolved governments are responsible for determining how it will be used to roll-out broadband to rural areas.
In England, the local authorities that have not yet agreed their broadband plans are being urged to make rapid progress to ensure the homes and businesses in their area do not miss out.
The projects covering Essex, East Riding and Black Country are continuing to work on their plans and we have written to the authorities urging them to complete the work as soon as possible.
Greater Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle are expected to deliver broadband to rural areas as part of their Super-Connected City projects but still need to submit a Local Broadband Plan.
Portsmouth, Southampton and Telford & Wrekin were involved in joint projects but have since withdrawn.
We have given Telford & Wrekin until the end of May to re-join the Shropshire project or funding will be withdrawn.
Portsmouth and Southampton have been informed that their applications for the second round of Super-Connected City funding will be dependent on them having or being part of approved plans for taking broadband to rural areas.
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Notes to Editors**
- Details of the progress being made by each local authority is available here or alternatively, see the Google map showing the status of local broadband plans across the UK.
- The Government allocated £530 million for broadband in the Spending Review in 2010. In November last year the Chancellor announced the Government would invest another £100million to create up to ten ‘super-connected cities’ with 80-100 Mbps broadband and city-wide high-speed mobile connectivity.
- The Government published its broadband strategy Britain’s Superfast Broadband Future in December 2010. In August we announced how much each English county had been allocated to help roll-out superfast broadband.
- The market will provide superfast broadband to around two thirds of the country. It is essential the whole country shares in the benefits of high-speed internet access. The Government is providing additional funding to make it economically viable for telecoms companies to roll-out broadband to the whole of the UK. Our investment will help provide 90 per cent of homes and businesses with access to superfast broadband and for everyone in the UK to have access to at least 2Mbps.
- Ofcom defines ‘superfast broadband’ as broadband with potential headline download access speeds greater than 24 Mbps.
- London, Cornwall, South Yorkshire, Bristol, Luton and Kingston upon Hull have not been allocated funding as broadband coverage is being wholly provided by the private sector or other projects. North Tyneside and South Tyneside have said they will achieve 90 per cent superfast broadband coverage through other means and have expressed no interest in using their allocated funding to go further.
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