A new scheme has launched to help pay for the installation costs of satellite broadband following the Government’s recent commitment to provide a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps (download).

The initiative is being rolled out UK wide, and allows residents to apply for up to £350 towards the hardware and installation costs to get connected. Eligible residents will be required to pay the monthly charge after the broadband connection has been set up.

County Durham residents with speeds of 2Mbps or less, who are not included in any current fibre broadband plans may be eligible to apply for the scheme.

Find out more and check if you are eligible to apply here

Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said:
“Our rollout of superfast broadband has already reached an additional 3.5 million homes and businesses who would otherwise have missed out. We are making tremendous progress, but it’s a massive engineering project and won’t happen overnight. This scheme offers immediate assistance to those homes and businesses in the Digital Durham programme area with the slowest speeds and is all part of our transformation of the UK’s digital landscape.”

Cllr Jane Brown, Cabinet member for corporate services at Durham County Council, said: “In County Durham we have some extremely rural and remote areas where residents and businesses rely heavily on being able to get online quickly and easily so they can keep in contact with friends, relatives or customers and to access information and services. Therefore, any measure that helps people in these rural locations access these resources is a real boost.” “As a council, we are committed to delivering faster broadband through the Digital Durham programme and ensuring that rural areas aren’t left behind so we are pleased that subsidised satellite connections are also available.”