Government announces £10m broadband fund to tackle ultra-rural Britain

The UK government has approved a £10m fund for technology providers who step forward to provide superfast broadband to the most rural 5% of the UK, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport announce.

Maria Milner, the Culture Secretary, has announced that the £10m fund will be available to providers who are able to bring alternative methods of delivering superfast broadband to these ultra-rural areas.

The scheme has been created to address the remaining 5% of homes and businesses who were not addressed by government targets to provide superfast services to 95% of the UK by 2017.

Solutions to be investigated as part of the project may include:

• The introduction of 4G wireless networks into these areas
• Using Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) – a direct fibre link to homes and businesses
• The use of satellite broadband
• Reducing the length of copper cable between the exchange and the end-user by running fibre from cabinets earlier on in the network

Control of these fund, alongside the rest of the project, now falls to newly-appointed Broadband Chief Exec. Chris Townsend, who previously helped deliver the 2012 Olympic Games to London.

From March of this year the funds will be available to fund pilot projects across the UK, allowing the government to find the most effective way of delivering superfast services to these areas.

Read the full DCMS announcement (external link).