Liverpool at risk of missing fibre broadband funding

Liverpool is set to miss out on government ultra-fast fibre optic broadband funding unless it pushes forward with plans to improve rural connectivity in the surrounding areas.

The Liverpool City Region is one of ten municipal areas battling it out for a share of the £100 million Urban Broadband Fund, which will provide money to finance the rollout of fibre broadband with speeds of between 40 and 80Mbps.

However, the government warned that Liverpool's bid is "highly unlikely" to succeed if the city fails to go ahead with the Broadband Delivery UK scheme, which aims to boost speeds and provision in rural communities, reports the Southport Advertiser.

A study that will be presented to Sefton Council claimed only 67 per cent of homes and 71 per cent of businesses will receive access to fibre broadband from BT.

Despite this, research from Ofcom published last year revealed that 68 per cent of properties in Sefton District already have super-fast broadband access.