New developments 'should have broadband access as standard'

Hampshire County Council is calling on the government to grant new local authority powers to enforce the delivery of superfast broadband connections to all new developments.

According to the public body, millions of pounds are now being spent retrofitting developments to ensure they have access to the latest superfast broadband speeds, but to avoid this problem - and considerable expenditure - in the future, developers should now be required to install these services when new homes are first created.

Leader of Hampshire County Council Councillor Roy Perry said: "With over 450 housing developments of all sizes in the pipeline, the County Council believes that developers, as well as residents would benefit if superfast broadband was widely available at new sites."

He added that from early conversations with developers in the area, the council believes this is a sensible step and one that could feasibly be implemented with limited effort and delay by all parties.