Nottinghamshire County Council is
“chipping in” to the central government funding pledge to improve the county’s
broadband access.
In
August, the Government provisionally allocated £4.25m to Nottinghamshire County
Council to improve broadband infrastructure county wide. However with 23.7% of properties in
Nottinghamshire having no or limited broadband access, the county council has
decided to invest a further £2.1m.
Councillor
Keith Girling, deputy cabinet member for culture and community, said: "At
the moment we are losing businesses to South Yorkshire
because broadband is better for them there.
"We've got to look at it
sensibly. Rural areas depend on good broadband and it is up to us to make it
happen."
But the county council said
it needed Nottinghamshire's district and borough councils to match the funding
to ensure the "vital" broadband improvements. Furthermore, the county
council is seeking £8.5m from whichever telecommunications operator is
appointed to carry out the improvements.
Work is not expected to start until 2013.
