Government invites fibre broadband funding applications

The government has opened a second round of bidding for super-fast broadband funding, inviting local authorities to apply for a share of a £50m pot.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the opening of the new round on Friday, saying the funding should be enough to connect up to 800,000 premises. The first round took place last year, but while that round was only open to local authority pilot schemes in rural areas, this one is open to all areas in the UK.

"Broadband is crucial for the country's economic future; that's why the coalition government is investing over half a billion pounds in its infrastructure," Osborne said in a statement. "We want to have the best super-fast broadband network in Europe by 2015 and today's £50m will benefit up to 800,000 homes and businesses. This is very much a locally-driven process and we encourage bids from all local people with plans for improving broadband in their local area."

The £50m pot is part of the £530m that the coalition set aside in October for the delivery of super-fast broadband — mostly via fibre-to-the-cabinet technology — across the UK. The money was diverted from the BBC's licence fee, and is being distributed through an agency called Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), which was set up by the previous Labour government.