European Commission approves Birmingham fibre broadband plan

The European Commission has given the green light to plans to roll out an ultra-fast fibre optic broadband network in Birmingham.

Approval was required as the project involves spending around €6 million (£4.8 million) of taxpayers' money, meaning the Commission needed to ascertain whether the proposals breached EU guidelines on state aid.

Birmingham's ultra-fast broadband strategy is not in contravention of these rules as the resulting network will be open to all operators, boosting competition in the market.

Joaquin Almunia, vice president in charge of competition policy at the Commission, said: "It is important to ensure thriving competition on the subsidised networks, so that local businesses and citizens can benefit from continuously improving broadband services at competitive prices."

Birmingham was one of ten UK cities to be awarded public money to support the deployment of fibre broadband, along with Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Newcastle and a joint bid from Leeds and Bradford.

Maximum funding of £10 million will be offered to Birmingham under the scheme.