County Councils approve new broadband proposal

The members of the Council of Bath and East Somerset agreed to provide GBP 2.724 million for the broadband improvement plan of the areas. The objective is to make available super-fast broadband access to the households and business communities by 2015.

It may be recalled that such a proposal was rejected last year, saying that it was very expensive. It invited the wrath of the people.

But the council members informed that their interest was for a better system which would offer more value for the money spent.

The current one is a joint bid with finance from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) and from the county councils of Somerset, Devon, North Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay.

Bath and North East Somerset Council will invest GBP 475,000 for the scheme. The balance will be shared by BDUK, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the private players.

Cherry Beath, the Councillor said that the current deal is excellent for all the communities of the counties, including the rural folks. It will certainly ensure economic prosperity.

As per the scheme, each GBP spending of the council will ensure GBP 4.70 spending by the other sources. That means more premises will be catered by the plan than decided in the previous year.

The new scheme ensures 2 Mbps broadband almost 100 percent of the households and business concerns in the areas. By 2015, 85% of the places will get download speeds of 20 Mbps.