Hampshire's allocation

Hampshire County Council’s allocation of £5 million is part of the £8.4 million that the Government set aside for the region, including Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight. £0.25 million has been allocated for Portsmouth City Council and £0.06 million for Southampton City Council, who will manage their respective programmes locally. BDUK agreed that the Isle of Wight could submit a separate bid against its allocation of £3.1 million because of its specific needs.

Who are BDUK?

Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) has been created within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as a delivery vehicle for the Government’s policies on broadband. They are responsible for evaluating the local broadband plans submitted by Local Authorities against which funding is allocated from the £530m available nationally.

Are there conditions attached to the grant?

As you would expect, there are many. The key ones being that the grant must be match funded and can only be spent on capital investment and that the targets are met by 2015.

What are the 2015 BDUK targets?

That by 2015, 90% of all premises in Hampshire are capable of receiving super fast broadband (24Mbps) and the final 10% a minimum 2Mbps.

What technology will be used?

The delivery of superfast broadband will be via a mixed economy of technologies. This is likely to include, fibre, copper, satellite, wireless and mobile phone technologies based on economic and service delivery factors.