MORE homes and businesses in rural Rutland could benefit from superfast broadband following an an extra £180,000 of government funding.

The Digital Rutland broadband project has already made 24Mbps+ broadband available to much of the county, with work under way to connect remaining properties.

Detailed plans were already in place to bring superfast broadband to a number of communities, said Terry King, portfolio holder for economic development at Rutland County Council.

“We are hopeful that this extra funding gives us the opportunity to extend our remaining work even further and bringing faster broadband to smaller groups of properties in our remote areas.”

The Digital Rutland project covers areas that the local authority was told in December 2011 would not being covered by a commercial broadband provider.

Councillor King said: “We continue to lobby hard on behalf of those communities who find themselves in a commercial area but still unable to receive a service."

He added: “We hope to have more news on this shortly.”

Superfast broadband allows families to use multiple devices simultaneously.

Businesses also stand to benefit hugely from the roll out, which will facilitate video conferencing, boost processing power and increasing productivity.

All ten telephone exchanges in Rutland have been upgraded so most 17,000 homes and businesses within the county now have access to high-speed fibre broadband.

This is either through the Digital Rutland project or as part of a commercial rollout.

Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC), which is capable of delivering speeds of up to 80Mbps, is the main technology deployed by Digital Rutland and has been rolled out first.

Digital Rutland is funded by Rutland County Council, BT and BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK). BT was chosen by the Council following an extensive and thorough selection process.

The council has been offered £180,000 from the national Superfast Extension Project provided it is match funded. Work is ongoing to evaluate this offer.

For more information, visit www.rutland.gov.uk/digitalrutland.