Home » 

UK ISP News Archives

 » 
Sponsored Links

UK Government Sets Aside GBP50m for 2nd Round of Superfast Broadband Projects

Posted: 05th Mar, 2011 By: MarkJ
uk fibre optic broadband cableparliament uk logoThe UK governments Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has announced the second round of superfast broadband projects and set aside £50m from the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) budget (£530m by 2015) help fund it. The effort it part of their national broadband strategy - Britain's Superfast Broadband Future.

The cash itself is designed to fill the "Final Third" of approximately 9 Million premises, where broadband provision is either very slow or nonexistent, with faster connectivity. These are locations where private sector investment alone cannot usually reach. Further guidance will be published on Monday next week.

Sadly the government has not yet revealed which areas will benefit from the new funding, although those details are expected to be announced during late spring. The news comes amid growing concern over the slow pace of progress, both in terms of government funding allocation and regulatory changes (here).

The Chancellor, George Osborne, commented:

"Broadband is crucial for the country’s economic future; that’s why the coalition Government is investing over half a billion pounds in its infrastructure.

We want to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015 and today’s £50m will benefit up to 800,000 homes and businesses. This is very much a locally-driven process and we encourage bids from all local people with plans for improving broadband in their local area."

It's understood that Local Public Authorities will be able to apply to BDUK for this funding and each area will be allocated around £5-10m. Local councils can also add some of their own budget into the mix and some operators ( BT ) have even pledged to match any public cash they receive with an equal amount of their own money.

The first wave of funding was originally agreed in October 2010 and covered a total of four superfast broadband ISP pilots in the Highlands and Islands (Scotland), Cumbria, North Yorkshire and the Golden Valley, Herefordshire (England).

The government aims to have the best broadband in Europe (based on speed, coverage, price and choice) by 2015 and it hopes to achieve this by delivering "a fibre point [into] every community in the UK" by 2015. In reality it has still only made a Universal Service Commitment (USC) to deliver a minimum broadband speed of just 2Mbps to everybody.
Related News
7th Dec 2010 - Examining the UK Governments Digital Hubs for Superfast Rural Broadband
23rd Oct 2010 - UK Government Reveals Additional Superfast Rural Broadband Pilot Details
Search ISP News
Search ISP Listings
Search ISP Reviews
 Latest UK ISP News
 Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: First 3 Months Free
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £23.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £25.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £25.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
150,000+ Customers | View More ISPs
 Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £19.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £19.00
300Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: First 3 Months Free
toob UK ISP Logo
toob £22.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £23.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Modest Availability | View More ISPs
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: First 3 Months Free
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £23.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £25.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £25.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £19.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £19.00
300Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: First 3 Months Free
toob UK ISP Logo
toob £22.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £23.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (6149)
  2. BT (3691)
  3. Politics (2774)
  4. Business (2480)
  5. Openreach (2446)
  6. Building Digital UK (2363)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2198)
  8. FTTC (2094)
  9. Statistics (1951)
  10. 4G (1855)
  11. Virgin Media (1811)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1613)
  13. Fibre Optic (1489)
  14. Wireless Internet (1477)
  15. 5G (1452)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules