£10 million superfast broadband fund opens for bids
24 Mar 2014 12:15 PM
Firms can now bid for
funding to test innovative ways to help take broadband to Britain’s most
remote communities.
Culture Secretary Maria Miller
announced the fund wwas open for bids. She said the focus is shifting to the
hardest to reach premises in Britain as the government’s ambitious
broadband programme is already on track to deliver superfast speeds to 95% of
the UK by 2017.
The £10 million fund will
enable a range of pilot projects to be run, as the Government seeks to include
the most remote areas in the broadband transformation taking place across
Britain.
Suppliers can submit bids in
three different categories:
-
Technology - seeing whether a
technology that works can be used in remote areas
-
Operating models - trying novel
operating models such as joining smaller networks together into a common larger
network
-
Financial - testing innovative
public / private funding models that could bring in new
investment
Culture Secretary Maria Miller
said:
Government’s rollout of
superfast broadband is already reaching more than 10,000 homes every week but
now we need to focus on the hardest to reach communities.
These pilots will be
instrumental in helping us understand how to overcome the challenges of
reaching the most remote areas of the UK, and I hope to see a wide range of
suppliers coming forward with innovative proposals.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury,
Danny Alexander said:
I am delighted that the rollout
of superfast broadband across the UK is continuing apace. Government investment
in hard to reach areas of the UK will deliver the benefits of a fast and
reliable digital communications infrastructure to rural communities, helping to
unlock local growth.
Rural Affairs Minister, Dan
Rogerson said:
The aim of this fund is to help
people living in very remote areas secure the benefits of superfast broadband.
Fast and reliable broadband coverage is crucial in building a stronger economy
and fairer society for farmers and all rural businesses to be able to compete
and grow.
Access the procurement documents