North Yorkshire invests £21 million in superfast broadband

Homes and businesses in North Yorkshire are set to benefit from a £21 million investment in superfast broadband in the area.

North Yorkshire County Council revealed on Tuesday (8 September) that it had secured the funding package from its Superfast North Yorkshire programme. The council said that it would be providing £13 million of the cash from its own funds, while the other £8 million is due to come from national and European governments.

When the Superfast North Yorkshire initiative began its work in 2012, just 46 per cent of the county's premises had access to superfast broadband. This latest funding injection into the scheme, which comes after £34.5 million has already been invested, will aim to bring that figure to up to 95 per cent.

County councillor Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire’s executive member for broadband, commented: "This is an enviable record which makes North Yorkshire the leading authority in the country for the reach of its high speed broadband programme.

"We can celebrate our success so far, but this additional investment reflects the authority’s determination to ensure that all of our taxpayers - communities and businesses - benefit from high-speed connectivity. We want North Yorkshire to be the premier place for people to live and to do business and we recognise that access to high speed broadband is vitally important to the economic prosperity of the county."

Mr Mackenzie added the latest investment will go towards funding the rollout of superfast broadband for the more rural and hard-to-reach areas of the county. He stated that it was important that the council extend the programme to help "communities and businesses which hitherto had little hope of reaping the advantages and rewards of high speed internet access".

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