A SCHEME to help difficult-to-reach communities in Hampshire get superfast broadband has had £1m pumped into it.

Hampshire County Council has invested £1m into the project.

The Community Match Funding scheme applies to locations which will not be covered by the Hampshire Superfast Broadband programme*, which is already on track to provide 97.4% of the county with superfast broadband access by 2019

The council will provide up to half of the funding to match money raised by communities, to help connect the remaining 2.6% of communities in areas that are hard to reach.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Roy Perry, said: “Good broadband access is fundamental - people rely on the internet everyday, whether it’s for banking and shopping, or learning and working from home. Not only is it vital for the economy of Hampshire, it is also an effective way of delivering modern and accessible public services. This money will allow more people to benefit from what is rapidly becoming an essential service.”

The scheme has been developed in conjunction with BT’s Community Fibre Partnership. It follows a wider roll-out of superfast broadband services across Hampshire, which so far has involved upgrading connections to more than 87,000 properties.