Government offers £50m for superfast broadband expansion

The government has allocated a further £50 million to fund the rollout of superfast broadband services across the UK.

Local public authorities are being invited to bid for a share of the cash, which is part of the £530 million that will be spent over the next four years on introducing the service to households and companies across the UK.

The move was announced by chancellor George Osborne on a visit to Bristol and he described broadband as "crucial to the country's economic future".

"We want to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015 and today's £50 million will benefit up to 800,000 homes and businesses," he remarked.

The funding will be used to expand broadband offerings in areas where suppliers themselves do not yet provide service, the government noted.

Commenting on a recent Ofcom report into broadband speeds, Brian Potterill of PricewaterhouseCoopers noted technology used for supplying the internet connection has a big influence in the quality of the service, as cable and fibre tend to be more reliable than phone line offerings.