Launching the strategy document ‘Britain's Superfast Broadband Future’ at the think tank Reform this morning, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt outlined how he intends to reach his goal of achieving "Europe’s best superfast broadband" by 2015.
The body the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) believes a superfast network could add 600,000 new jobs to the economy and The Federation of Small Businesses believes it could add £18bn to GDP.
Hunt announced the Government will make £50m available for a "second wave of superfast broadband market testing projects" that will build a single fast broadband connection to rural neighbourhoods.
The Government has committed £830m from the licence fee to the roll out of superfast broadband and already announced a first wave of market testing projects in Yorkshire and Herefordshire, Cumbria and the Highlands and Islands.
Local bodies and devolved administrations will have the opportunity to propose new testing projects in April 2011 and Hunt said the Government will make a final selection in May.
Under the proposals the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) body Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) will build a central digital point in rural communities that the market alone will not reach.
Communities will then have responsibility for extending the superfast network to individual homes.
with to deliver superfast broadband to 85 to 90% of the country.
He added: "It’s a great example of how public investment and government action can stimulate further investment from the private sector."
"...New technology is not perfect. It is a force that needs to be carefully harnessed. But in the end we should remember that its benefits are not just about efficiency, or growth, or jobs but about a lasting, positive impact on each of our daily lives."
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