The much awaited names of the 8 superfast broadband projects entitled to receive a £10 million fund from the UK government are finally out.
The £10 million fund has been granted with an aim to spread superfast broadband to every nook and corner of the country.
The 8 selected schemes will make use of different technologies including satellite and fixed wireless to provide the best quality broadband possible to remote UK areas.
Scotland, Wales, Devon, Somerset and Northumberland are some of the proposed locations where the broadband projects will be tested.
Culture Secretary Sajid Javid, said “Our nationwide rollout is progressing at a terrific rate and each week superfast speeds are becoming a reality for tens of thousands of homes and businesses in rural areas across the UK. We know how important this has become which is why we are investing £10 million in these pilots to explore how we can extend coverage beyond the 95% of the UK we are on track to deliver by 2017.”
The UK government, with these pilot projects, plans to connect the remaining five percent population with superfast fibre-optic broadband.
Among the eight schemes, AB Internet is working on a hybrid fixed line/fixed wireless superfast network that will deliver speeds of up to 50Mbps in Wales. In North Yorkshire, Airwave will deploy 4 next-generation wireless systems; including making use of TV white space.
Avanti is working on to pilot a satellite broadband system in Northern Ireland and Scotland. MLL will deploy a range of small wireless networks to provide superfast broadband access in Kent.
Cybermoor is trying to develop a fibre to the home network using a financial model that will take investment from the local community in Northumberland. In Hampshire, Call Flow will attempt to combine a mix of fibre, fixed-wireless, and sub-loop unbundling into one fibre network.
Many of the winning bidders are members of the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (Inca).
Chief executive Malcolm Corbett said “This is a very useful initiative and we are keen to help local authorities and Independent Networks Co-operative Association [INCA] members learn from the trials. There is a huge amount of experience, professionalism and entrepreneurial enthusiasm in the independent sector that can play a big role in creating Britain’s future digital infrastructure.”
