Fibre broadband boost for Black Country

High-speed fibre broadband is set to come to homes and businesses in Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall thanks to the work of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership's rollout programme.

The scheme is part of Broadband Delivery UK, which is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The government has pledged £3 million to bring better broadband to these Black Country areas.

Board Member and Chair of the Black Country Broadband Plan Group Ninder Johal commented: "Small businesses have identified slow broadband speeds as a barrier to growth."

A network provider has not yet been appointed to help bring the high-speed technology to the Black Country, but the chosen one will be required to invest a further £1.5 million in delivering better broadband.

Once the regional rollout has been completed, around 95 per cent of the Black Country will be able to access the superfast service - a statistic that is expected to be reached within just three years.