Devon and Somerset submit £100m fibre broadband bid

A new multi-million pound fibre optic broadband bid has been made in an attempt to provide people living in rural parts of Devon and Somerset with a fast connection.

According to This is Exeter, a bid to bring a fibre broadband scheme worth £100 million to the region has been submitted to the government's Broadband Delivery UK agency which has control of a £530 million pot set aside to boost broadband connectivity in certain parts of the UK.

The bid has been put together by five local authorities - North Somerset Council, the Plymouth and Torbay unitary authorities and the Devon and Somerset County Councils - and has the support of 19 MPs as well as local fire and rescue services, education providers and the NHS.

Somerset County Council called the bid "pioneering" and said the project will allow for total broadband coverage by 2015. Some 85 per cent of cases would be able to benefit from super-fast connections, it predicted.