Wales to get £10m funding to extend superfast broadband

After complaints by a Welsh MP at the end of last year, Wales is set to get allocated funding

Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne has announced that Wales is to receive £10m in funding to support the rollout of superfast broadband, in what will be "just the first wave of funding".

This comes after shadow business minister Ian Lucas, MP for Wrexham, attacked the UK government at the end of last year, saying that "the licence fee is paid by taxpayers in Wales in exactly the same way as it is across the UK, yet the government has not guaranteed any money for Wales".

The UK government announced its broadband strategy in December and will see £530m made available up until 2015, with a possible £300m made available for the two years following that.

"Having seen the potential growth opportunities in Wrexham today I am pleased to announce £10m additional funding for Wales that will support the extension of superfast broadband to Pwllheli and the surrounding areas," said Osborne.

"This is just the first wave of funding for Wales from the over half a billion pounds we have already set aside to extend superfast broadband across the UK."

In response Lucas has commented that the announcement is good news for North Wales, and is ahead of schedule.

"The Conservative-led Westminster government has finally found some money for a broadband trial in Wales," he said.

"This is good news, and while I had expected an announcement from the government when the next bids are formally announced in April, it is clear their hand has been forced on the issue.

"At least George Osborne managed to find his way to Wales to make the announcement. He has a better grasp of geography than the culture secretary, who told MPs last year that Wales had not missed out in the first round of bids because one was in Hereford."