A new scheme that could connect almost every home and business in Cambridgeshire with superfast broadband within four years has been approved.

The Cambridgeshire councy council has given a green light to the £70m scheme scheme and it will support it with a £20m investment. Another £8m will come from the government and the council has said that it will look for private sector investors to arrange the remaining investment required.

The new scheme will offer superfast broadband connection of 25 megabits a second or higher to a minimum of 90 per cent of properties. The new scheme is expected to attract several new businesses and will also reduce the broadband-speed between urban and rural areas.

Nick Clarke, leading the project at Cambridge County Council said, "Superfast broadband is taken as the norm in many countries now and if we wish to compete not with Durham, Cornwall and Wales, if we want to compete on the world stage, it’s essential. We wouldn’t expect communities and businesses to start up without electricity or roads or water."