Budget 2012: Leeds, Manchester and London among 10 cities to benefit from 'ultra-fast broadband fund'
The chancellor George Osborne today announced the 10 cities which will share £100m of funding to speed up their broadband infrastructure.
Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle will become "super-connected cities", Osborne said during his Budget announcement.
The chancellor told the House of Commons: "By 2015 this will deliver ultrafast broadband coverage to 1.7 million households and 200,000 businesses in high-growth areas as well as high-speed wireless broadband for three million residents. The government will also provide an additional £50m to fund a second wave of ten smaller super-connected cities."
The investment in broadband was first announced in the chancellor's autumn statement. At the time the government said the £100m would be used to up broadband speeds to 80-100 megabits per second and provide high-speed mobile connectivity in the 10 successful cities.
Internet data centre image via Shutterstock