Welsh govt to invest £400m in next-gen broadband

The Welsh Assembly Government has revealed that it intends to invest £400 million in the rollout of super-fast broadband to homes and businesses across the country.

Some £57 million of this funding will come from the UK government, while £70 million has been contributed by European sources. The Welsh Assembly is also hoping to attract "significant" additional financial support from the private sector.

In its latest Infrastructure Investment Plan, the administration explained: "This investment in communications infrastructure will stimulate a thriving and competitive digital economy.

"It will support growth through wide-scale application, innovation, commercialisation and exploitation of digital technologies by Welsh businesses."

The Welsh government has pledged to bring next-generation broadband to 100 per cent of businesses by 2016, before extending coverage to every household by 2020.

This comes as part of the Conservative-led coalition's goal of delivering the best super-fast broadband network in Europe by 2015.

In February, Welsh Business Minister Edwina Hart announced the extension of the country's Broadband Support Scheme, which provides grants of up to £1,000 to residents and businesses in notspot locations to help them obtain faster connections.

The scheme, which has approved more than 2,000 applications, was originally set to end this March.