Maria Miller - 拢114m Broadband Investment to Boost Nationwide Growth
Ten city economies are set to get a boost with the announcement today of how much they will share from a 拢114 million broadband pot.
The investment, announced today by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, will help them transform into 鈥榮uper-connected cities鈥�.聽By offering high-tech and digital companies the infrastructure they need, the cities will be able to compete for business, investment and jobs with the world鈥檚 top digital cities.
The four UK capital cities along with Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds & Bradford, Newcastle and Manchester will share the funding.聽It will help provide businesses with ultrafast broadband (at least 80-100Mbps) and well as high speed wireless Internet access.
The allocations to each city are:
- 叠别濒蹿补蝉迟听拢13.7尘
- 叠颈谤尘颈苍驳丑补尘听拢10尘
- 叠谤颈蝉迟辞濒听拢11.3尘
- 颁补谤诲颈蹿蹿听拢11尘
- 贰诲颈苍产耻谤驳丑听拢10.7尘
- Leeds & Bradford (joint bid)聽拢14.4m
- 尝辞苍诲辞苍听拢25尘
- 惭补苍肠丑别蝉迟别谤听拢12尘
- Newcastle 拢6m
Culture Secretary Maria Miller said: 鈥淔ast broadband is essential for growth, and is key to the country鈥檚 economic future.聽These ten cities have produced ambitious and comprehensive plans, which will turn them into digital leaders, and give their local economies a real boost. The new investment will help put these cities at the centre of the digital stage, competing for jobs and investment with the best in the world.鈥�
The Government is transforming the UK鈥檚 digital infrastructure as a key driver of jobs and economic growth.聽It is investing a total of 拢830 million in delivering the best broadband in Europe and extending mobile coverage.聽
Today鈥檚 allocations follow an announcement by the Culture Secretary last week of plans to rip up the planning red tape that is delaying the roll-out of superfast broadband around the country.
The ten cities鈥� plans include taking ultrafast broadband access to around an extra 230,000 residential and 55,000 business premises as well as high speed wireless to even more.聽 All the plans are due to be delivered by 2015.
The names of the ten cities, along with indicative allocations, were announced in this year鈥檚 Budget following a competition.聽Today鈥檚 announcement sets out the amount of Government investment allocated to each city.聽The cities are all required to provide additional resources towards the project.
A second super-connected city fund was also announced in the Budget, which will see around a further 拢50 million shared between ten smaller cities.
Notes to Editors
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The total sum allocated to the 10 cities is 拢114.1 million, which exceeds the 拢100 million originally allocated to the first round of the super-connected fund.聽 We expect to manage the costs within the overall 拢830 million available for broadband.
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.聽They were the four capitals, the eight English core cities and other cities with more than 150,000 dwellings - Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Bradford and Glasgow.聽.
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The Government wants the UK to have the best broadband network in Europe by 2015 and the fastest of any major European country.聽The Comprehensive Spending Review allocated 拢530 million for investing in broadband over this Parliament. The funding for super-connected cities is additional investment.聽A further 拢150 million is being invested in extending mobile coverage to areas of the UK that currently have no mobile coverage.
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is open to cities with a Royal Charter and more than 45,000 homes and businesses, or more than 35,000 homes and businesses in Northern Ireland.聽The eligible cities are Aberdeen, Brighton & Hove, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Coventry, Derby, Dundee, Exeter, Gloucester, Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Londonderry / Derry, Newport, Norwich, Oxford, Perth, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Salford, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, Wolverhampton and York.
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