Liberal Democrats are urging City of York Council to bid for a share of £50million to improve broadband connectivity right across the City. The funding is available as part of the coalition government’s vision for broadband in the UK, which aims to ensure the UK has the best broadband network in Europe by 2015.

27 cities have been invited to bid for the investment under Phase 2 of the government’s Super-Connected Cities programme. Phase 1 saw £100 million allocated to 10 larger cities including London, Bradford, and Leeds. A further scheme allocates £530 million to the rural broadband programme. To apply for a share of the funding, cities must submit a plan setting out how they aim to achieve the ambitions of full ultrafast coverage with fixed broadband and ubiquitous wireless connectivity. The winners will be announced in the Autumn Statement 2012.

Cllr Carol Runciman, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on City of York Council, commented:
“This is a fantastic opportunity for York. There is huge potential for broadband and high speed wireless connectivity to drive economic development. Ultrafast broadband has several potential advantages over previous broadband versions for businesses, residents and the public sector. It means new applications and businesses can be developed and existing parts of the economy will be able to perform tasks such as large-scale data work, home working and video conferencing much more efficiently.

“York must not be left behind and I am pushing for the Council to seize this opportunity. The present Wi-Fi scheme merely focuses on the city-centre but this programme will be good for the whole of York. With this scheme and the rural scheme, the coalition government recognises that we should be improving access to ultrafast broadband and Wi-Fi for all our residents and businesses. Having broadband at home supports a child’s education and schools are increasingly expecting pupils to access online resources. This is just one of the many reasons why having good internet provision across the whole of York is so important.”