Northumberland council leader welcomes more funding to boost rural connectivity

Vouchers are currently available in the Borderlands to subsidise the costs of bringing gigabit broadband to areas suffering with slow speeds.

As part of the £394.5m Borderlands Growth Deal, up to £4 million of additional Government funding will ‘top up’ these vouchers so even more money is available to improve digital connectivity and boost the regional economy.

Coun Peter Jackson, leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for businesses and residents in our area and sees us entering an exciting new phase in connectivity, following the completion of our previous superfast broadband scheme which saw an Northumberland County Council investment of £26 million between 2012 and 2019 in rolling out availability to 94% of the county.

“We recognise that having widely available, high-speed, affordable and reliable connectivity to businesses and residents is crucial in maintaining our economic competitiveness and achieving social inclusion. We do hope all those eligible will take up this exciting offer.”

The Government’s Gigabit Broadband Vouchers Scheme (GBVS) currently provides up to £3,500 funding for eligible businesses and up to £1,500 for eligible residential properties to install gigabit-capable connections.

The £4million made available will be used to match the level of funding available under the GBVS, so that eligible businesses can now apply for up to a maximum of £7,000 and eligible residential properties up to £3,000.

Gigabit broadband is capable of download speeds of 1 gigabit (1000 megabits) per second. The economic and social benefits of these high-speed internet connections are central to the Borderlands vision for the region and have been proven doubly important during the Covid-19 restrictions.

Businesses and residents in Cumbria and Northumberland are eligible to receive these contributions towards gigabit-capable connections if they are based in locations that are unlikely to benefit from commercial broadband rollout, or where available services are currently less than ‘superfast’.

Residents and businesses can visit the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme website at https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk to find a list of suppliers in their local area.

The deadline to apply is March 31, 2021.

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