More than 90% of Edinburgh residents and businesses will have access to high speed broadband by 2015.
Funding for this as well as free public wi-fi zones in key streets, squares and parks, initially focused in the city centre, was announced today as part of the £100m of Urban Broadband funding set by the Westminster government for their Super-Connected Cities Initiative.
The City of Edinburgh Council, which will manage between £8m and £11m of capital funding for our ‘Connected Capital’ programme, will now put together a detailed plan by July 2012 outlining how the money will be spent.
Yesterday the Council agreed to commit £1.9m of revenue funding to deliver the programme. Further funding and revenue streams will be sought to enable specific programme activities.
The plan will develop Edinburgh’s urban broadband bid, which included two key infrastructure investments.
- Free public wi-fi zones in key streets, squares and parks, initially focused in the city centre, with the potential to extend to key cultural and community locations across Edinburgh.
- Connecting those areas of the city with high speed broadband where commercial investment is not planned.
Underpinning these infrastructure investments is the need to stimulate demand for broadband across the city among residents and businesses and develop educational and social opportunities to ensure that Edinburgh is a digitally inclusive city. Part of the proposal is also the establishment of a facility to demonstrate the benefits of high speed broadband to small to medium sized businesses.
Sue Bruce, Chief Executive, said: “Becoming a super-connected city will enable us to compete with the world’s top digital cities. Edinburgh is already a world class visitor destination and a great place in which to live, work, study and invest. This funding will help Edinburgh to attract new jobs and investment and will greatly enhance our offering as a digitally inclusive city.”
