Suffolk UK Seek to Expand BDUK and BT Superfast Broadband Rollout

The £40 million Better Broadband to Suffolk project, which is working to make BT’s superfast “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network available to more than 85% of local homes and businesses by the end of 2015, has joined other regions in seeking fresh Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) funding to reach more premises.

The Suffolk County Council hopes to grab a slice of the extra £250m that the Government recently allocated to BDUK for the post-2015 period and believes this could be used to expand its current target beyond the 90% coverage mark (those outside of this have already been promised speeds of at least 2Mbps).

Mark Bee, Suffolk County Council’s Leader, said:

“The Better Broadband programme is already achieving great results but that is no reason for us to stop striving for even greater outcomes for Suffolk. We had a very positive meeting with Ed Vaizey [Communications Minister] and I’m excited about the potential to extend the programme even further.

Suffolk’s pledge of a universal minimum of 2Mbps is right for our county because there are so many rural areas what would otherwise have ended up with nothing. This is about extending our superfast commitment so that Suffolk really is at the forefront of broadband access.”

The project, which is currently running roughly three months ahead of schedule, isn’t the only BDUK supported scheme to be seeking additional funding and indeed nearly all of those local authorities that have set out a related Local Broadband Plan are likely to campaign for a slice of the same pot.