A £10m fund to help take superfast broadband to Britain's most remote communities has opened for business.

Firms can now bid for funding to test innovative ways of connecting up communities in the countryside, said culture secretary Maria Miller.

Opening of the fund on Friday (21 May), Ms Miller said the focus was shifting to bring better broadband to the hardest to reach premises in Britain.

It follows an announcement of the £10m rural broadband funding package earlier this year.

Procurement documents related to the fund can be accessed here.

Ms Miller said: " Government's rollout of superfast broadband is already reaching more than 10,000 homes every week but now we need to focus on the hardest to reach communities.

"These pilots will be instrumental in helping us understand how to overcome the challenges of reaching the most remote areas of the UK."

The government's ambitious broadband programme was already on track to deliver superfast speeds to 95% of the UK by 2017, she added.

The £10 million fund would enable a range of pilot projects to be run, as the government sought to include the most remote areas in the broadband transformation that was taking place.

Suppliers can submit bids in three different categories:

* Technology - seeing whether a technology that works can be used in remote areas
* Operating models - trying novel operating models such as joining smaller networks together into a common larger network
* Financial - testing innovative public / private funding models that could bring in new investment

Rural affairs minister, Dan Rogerson said: "The aim of this fund is to help people living in very remote areas secure the benefits of superfast broadband.

He added: "Fast and reliable broadband coverage is crucial in building a stronger economy and fairer society for farmers and all rural businesses to be able to compete and grow."