The government has announced an additional £250 million is to be allocated on a match-funding basis with local authorities towards expanding access to superfast broadband. The funding has been allocated to local authorities to ensure 95 percent superfast broadband coverage across the UK bringing coverage to harder-to-reach rural areas.
£5 million has been allocated to East Riding of Yorkshire through this latest round.
Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness, Graham Stuart, commented:
“I welcome this additional funding to get broadband deeper into rural communities and hope that this will be utilised effectively to connect more properties in rural Holderness to superfast broadband services as soon as possible. Superfast broadband coverage is already higher in the UK than in Germany, Italy, Spain and France, and this additional investment will see over a million more premises across the country connected to high speed broadband services.
“This additional investment provides an excellent value for taxpayer money, with a projected net return of £20 by 2024 for every £1 spent now. Access to broadband is an important part of the Government’s long-term economic plan, as it will help create more jobs and ensure that our small businesses have the access they need to compete in a global market place.”
East Riding of Yorkshire Council has yet to confirm how it intends to utilise this funding, which is provided as a 50% match fund towards the total cost of reaching the target of 95% of properties with superfast broadband services.
