Hampshire promises major fibre broadband investment

Hampshire County Council has promised to make a significant investment in improving fibre optic broadband connectivity for local communities.

Slow broadband speeds are hampering communities across the county, but the local authority is addressing this issue by searching for a commercial partner to carry out a series of infrastructure improvements.

According to Get Hampshire, council leader Ken Thornber revealed at a recent meeting that documentation has been put out to tender and expressed confidence that a response will be received early in the new year.

Although he admitted the process has so far taken longer than anticipated, Mr Thornber said the fibre broadband rollout is still on track to progress in 2013.

Estimates indicate that 115,000 businesses and homes across Hampshire will benefit from the project, which is backed by £10 million of public funding.

"We will make a very substantial contribution to super-fast broadband instalment in the next few years," Mr Thornber commented.

"The absence of broadband in some rural areas and its slowness in others is clearly hampering business growth."