Superfast broadband hope for every home in county

Internet chiefs in North Yorkshire say they expect to be able to reach “100 per cent” of the county’s homes and businesses with high-quality broadband by 2017 through the next phase of their publicly-funded network, so ending fears that thousands of properties would be left behind as the digital revolution gathers pace.

If successful, the proposals will give North Yorkshire the most comprehensive broadband network of anywhere in the UK outside the very largest cities.

By contrast, council bosses in South Yorkshire are still struggling to find a solution to the gaping holes in their county’s own internet coverage, following the collapse of the disastrous £150m Digital Region project last year.

South Yorkshire was yesterday offered a further £5.4m by Whitehall to embark on a new private-sector led broadband project, on top of £5m already on offer – but local leaders have yet to make a decision on how best to proceed.

In total, Culture Secretary Maria Miller announced allocations of a further £30m to councils across the region as part of the coalition’s new £250m package to extend superfast broadband to 95 per cent of UK premises by 2017.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, North Yorkshire internet chief John Moore said he was “pleasantly surprised” by his county’s £7.6m allocation, adding that if match-funding can be found from local councils he is confident of reaching every single home and business by 2017. “The challenge now is to work out how most effectively to spend the money to get 100 per cent (coverage),” he said. “Our thinking is all about that 100 per cent figure. It just isn’t fair on the areas that are left out otherwise. They are already wondering how much longer they will have to wait.”

High-quality internet is increasingly seen as a fundamental utility for many businesses and households, with faster connections proving potentially revolutionary in remote areas long held back by their lack of connectivity.

The £250m package unveiled yesterday is the Government’s second tranche of funding for rural broadband. An earlier funding round worth £540m was designed to ensure 90 per cent of the country would have access to so-called “superfast” broadband – meaning download speeds of 25 Mbs or more – by 2015. The extra money aims to push that target on to 95 per cent by 2017.

But the Yorkshire Post has previously reported the concerns of MPs in rural areas about the tens of thousands of properties – the so-called “final five per cent” – that would still be left stranded without high-quality internet connections under those plans.

Mr Moore said the solution is to use new satellite and wireless technologies to deliver slightly slower speeds of 10 to 15 Mbs – still well above the national average – to those final properties which would otherwise be left out.

“The feedback we get from rural areas is: ‘just give us 10 or 15 Mbs’,” Mr Moore said. “We can deliver those sorts of speeds through wireless or satellite schemes.”

North Yorkshire is much further ahead than most parts of the country in rolling out rural broadband, having been made a pilot area for the Government’s plans in 2011 and already enjoying significant experience in the sector following a previous public-sector internet project a decade ago.

Latest figures show more than 100,000 properties in North Yorkshire have access to superfast broadband, and the county is on course to hit 90 per cent coverage by the end of this year.

Projects are also under way in East and West Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, with the extra funds announced yesterday – worth £5m, £6.6m and £1.2m respectively – set to extend coverage to 95 per cent of properties in those areas by 2017.

Their progress leaves South Yorkshire trailing badly, with its once-proud plan to build the “best broadband network in Europe” lying in tatters following the collapse of the £150m Digital Region scheme last year.

That project saw council bosses plough millions into the construction of their own high-speed network in 2009.

But Digital Region failed to attract sufficient customers and ran up enormous debts before the plug was finally pulled.

South Yorkshire’s local enterprise partnership is now co-ordinating discussions on how best the county can meet the Government’s 95 per cent target.