£1m super-fast internet boost

Greater Manchester is set to be handed nearly £1million to improve broadband in rural areas.

The cash, announced by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, is part of the Government’s drive to ensure 90 per cent of homes and businesses have access to super-fast broadband by 2015.

County councils and private enterprise partnerships will be put in charge of the drive.

The money will be spread between the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities which includes Rochdale.

It is one of the lowest sums awarded but ministers say the allocations are based on need and where the market will fail to deliver superfast broadband to enough premises on its own, and not based on the number of people living or working in a county.
Mr Hunt said: “I am absolutely determined that the UK will have the best super-fast broadband network in Europe by 2015 — one that we all benefit from.

“Fast broadband is absolutely vital to our economic growth, to delivering public services effectively, and to conducting our everyday lives. But some areas of the UK are missing out, with many hard-to-reach communities suffering painfully slow internet connections or no coverage at all. We are not prepared to let some parts of our country get left behind in the digital age.”

The cash is to help the one-third of households that are not expected to have fast broadband made available by the private sector. The allocations come out of £530million committed by Chancellor George Osborne to improving broadband access over the course of the parliament.