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7 July 2010

Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) 2007 - 2013 - Broadband fund has been launched

Rural Broadband (European Economic Recovery Plan)
 

emda is launching the Rural Broadband Fund, funded through the Rural Development Programme for England. This fund seeks to support the government’s objective that Britain has the best superfast broadband network in Europe.
 

The funding can contribute towards developing innovative approaches that address existing gaps in rural broadband coverage. These approaches can include:
• Community broadband projects
• Projects that seek to upgrade existing infrastructure to exceed the proposed Universal Service Commitment speed of 2Mbit/s
• Projects that enable early deployment of next generation compatible solutions.
 

Who can apply?
Organisations eligible to apply are:
• Businesses
• Charities
• Community groups
• Local consortia.
 

Organisations NOT eligible to apply are:
• Broadband providers (unless as part of a local consortium)
• Local authorities, including Parish Councils (unless as part of a local consortium).
 

How much grant can be awarded?
emda intends to award grants to support a range of projects of different scales from a lower limit of £30,000 to a maximum of £250,000.
Although RDPE can provide up to 100% of “eligible costs” of a project (up to 100%, depending on the extent of commercial return and limits imposed by the de minimis rules), RDPE is a competitive funding programme. Therefore, proposals should seek the minimum RDPE funding necessary to enable the proposed project to proceed, with the rest of the costs met by funding from private sector sources (see section on “match funding” at 5.2).
 

Closing Date
The closing date for Expressions of Interest for the Rural Broadband Fund is the 13th September 2010.
 

For more information on the Rural Broadband Fund, please contact the Lucy Pike or Melanie Fischer on 01159 888300 or email ruralbroadband@emd.org.uk.

Or see related documents at the side of the page.

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