Chancellor releases £50m for rural high-speed broadband

George Osborne estimates this will benefit 800,000 premises

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has made a further £50m available to support fast broadband rollout to rural areas.

This is the first tranche of the £530m that will be made available between now and 2015 to create the "best broadband network in Europe".

The government's strategy includes setting up a "fibre point" in every community by this time, but very few other details have been so far been given.

"Broadband is crucial for the country's economic future; that's why the coalition government is investing over £500m in its infrastructure," said Osborne.

"We want the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015 and today's £50m will benefit up to 800,000 homes and businesses.

"This is very much a locally-driven process and we encourage bids from local people with plans to improve broadband in their local area," he added.

Local public authorities will be able to apply to Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) to be granted funds from the £50m to improve connectivity in their area.