Published at 11:53, Wednesday, 20 June 2012

THE project to roll-out superfast broadband across Cumbria has been hit with yet another delay when county councillors rejected tenders from BT and Fujitsu for the £40 million contract.

Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet had been due to pick one of the two telecommunications giants, but last week decided that the tenders submitted would not have been capable of realising their ambition to have 90 per cent of Cumbrian homes and businesses with broadband speeds of 25Mbps by 2015.

It is now 20 months since the Government first announced that it was giving a multi-million subsidy to Cumbria and three other pilot areas to provide superfast broadband.

Up to £40 million is available in subsidies for the winning company to ensure that superfast broadband reaches every part of Cumbria.

The massive project has been hit by a number of delays, but now BT and Fujitsu have been effectively sent back to the drawing board to up their offer and come back to the council with a better solution for Cumbria.

Negotiations with the two final bidders will be re-opened and the council wants to consider an improved offer when it meets in September.

Councillors discussed the project in a private session and voted to approve a recommendation from officers to reject the bids.

A statement from the council said: “The council will invite both suppliers to engage in an intense process of formal negotiation that will focus on securing a final contract for the delivery of superfast broadband in Cumbria that fully meets the needs and aspirations of the Connecting Cumbria programme.”

Commenting on the decision, Elizabeth Mallinson, Cabinet member with lead for the Connecting Cumbria project, said: “It was an extremely difficult decision for Cabinet but we are confident it is the right thing to do.

“Although we have not identified a preferred supplier at this stage we have made significant progress in terms of our overall broadband strategy for Cumbria, both in this procurement process and in attracting public and private funding to help deliver superfast broadband across rural and urban Cumbria.

“The Connecting Cumbria programme is a very complex initiative and one that we need to get right if we are to meet the needs and expectations of Cumbria’s communities and businesses.”

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk