Government confirms 10 "super-connected" cities for 2012

Superfast broadband

The Government has confirmed plans to create 10 "super-connected" cities in 2012.

Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle have been chosen as the 10 hubs for broadband investment.

As part of a £100 million investment, "ultrafast broadband" will be made available to 1.7 million households and 200,000 businesses.

These "high growth areas" will also see 3 million residents enjoy high-speed wireless broadband.

Sadly, the actual speeds associated with these terms isn't made clear, though the likes of Virgin's highest-speed fibre optic network of 100Mbit/s, already available in some areas, will surely be a benchmark.

The Government will also provide an additional £50 million to fund a second wave of ten smaller super-connected cities.

Also promisedis an extension to mobile coverage to 60,000 rural homes and along at least ten key roads by 2015.

These include the A2 and A29 in Northern Ireland, the A57, A143, A169, A352, A360 and A591 in England, the A82(T) in Scotland and the A470(T) in Wales, subject to planning permission, using the £150 million investment announced at the Autumn Statement 2011.

The Government also plans to consider whether "direct intervention is required to improve mobile coverage for rail passengers".

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Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).