Warwickshire County Council backs fibre broadband plan

Plans to boost fibre optic broadband access in Warwickshire have been given the green light by the county council.

In a meeting of the local authority's cabinet last week, members agreed that the council will stump up £3 million of funding to complement the government's £4.07 million investment in Warwickshire's broadband infrastructure.

An additional £500,000 has been allocated to cover the various costs associated with the infrastructure improvement project, while the remaining funding to match the coalition's total will be provided by Coventry City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Warwickshire's five boroughs and districts.

Alan Cockburn, portfolio holder for sustainable communities at the county council, said: "Super-fast broadband is an absolutely essential technology for our rural communities and they desperately need a service that is fit for the future."

The local authority is aiming to deliver minimum speeds of 2Mbps to every home and business in Warwickshire by 2015, with download rates of at least 24Mbps for 90 per cent of properties in the area.