£100m fund to boost superfast broadband in UK cities

London, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and more to get investment for high-speed networks...

10 cities are to get funding for broadband rolloutsPhoto: Shutterstock

The government has set aside £100m to invest in high-speed broadband infrastructure in 10 cities across the UK.

Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Autumn statement yesterday that London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh will all receive some of the £100m investment.

The six other cities to benefit from the government scheme will be selected from a UK-wide competition with the winners announced in the 2012 Budget.

City councils can bid for the funds, with most of the resources directed to areas where companies such as Virgin Media and BT would not normally invest in high-speed internet services without subsidy.

Companies that want to benefit from the subsidies will be expected to match any funding awarded by the government.

The areas selected for investment will receive broadband speeds of between 80 to 100Mbps and will be "strategic employment zones" according to the Treasury.

The broadband improvements were announced as part of the government's National Infrastructure Plan, which also includes £50m of investment for a National Graphene Institute announced earlier this year.

The Chancellor also reiterated an announcement made last October that the government will be investing £150m to extend mobile coverage to 99 per cent of the UK.