Government: we've got cash for broadband notspots

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 8 Jul 2010 at 14:50

The Culture Minister claims he's secured Government funding to fill in Britain's broadband notspots.

In the wake of Government departments being told to slash budgets by 25% or more, Jeremy Hunt claims he's managed to convince the Treasury to deal with Britain's broadband gaps.

"Treasury support secured to deal with 'notspots' and rural super-fast broadband pilots," Hunt writes in a blog post, providing the latest updates from his Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). "More details to be announced at an industry forum next week - this will be a vital part of our economic growth strategy."

Hunt doesn't stipulate how much money will be made available or where it's coming from, although the Conservatives have long stated that they plan to use the excess budget from the digital television switchover to help pay for better broadband.

Earlier today, a rural village in Kent secured up to 40Mbits/sec fibre broadband after agreeing to pay BT £13,000 to connect it to the local exchange in Sittingbourne, which had already been earmarked for fibre deployment.