HAMPSHIRE County Council has invested £1million in a scheme to help more remote communities to benefit from superfast broadband.

The Community Match Funding scheme applies to locations not covered by the Hampshire Superfast Broadband programme, which is already on track to provide 97.4 per cent of the county with superfast broadband access by 2019.

Much of Whitehill and Bordon is covered by commercial providers of the technology, with swathes of urban gaps filled in by the county council’s subsidy project. But more rural spots, usually the last to receive such services, might well benefit from the Match Funding scheme.

The county council will provide up to half of the funding to match money raised by residents, to help connect the remaining 2.6 per cent of communities in areas which are harder and more expensive to reach.

Leader of Hampshire county council Roy Perry said: “Good broadband access is fundamental - people rely on the internet every day, whether it is for banking and shopping or learning and working from home.

“Not only is it vital for the economy of Hampshire, it is also an effective way of delivering modern and accessible public services.

“This money will allow more people to benefit from what is rapidly becoming an essential service.”

The Community Match Funding scheme has been developed in conjunction with BT’s Community Fibre Partnership. It follows a wider roll out of superfast broadband services across Hampshire, which so far has involved upgrading connections to more than 87,000 properties.

The Hampshire Superfast Broadband programme is due to increase coverage across the county from 80 per cent (areas already covered, commercially) to 97.4 per cent by the end of 2019 - well in excess of Government targets.

By 2019, Hampshire County Council will have invested £12.9m in the programme - with £16.4m from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and £1.25m from district councils.

Steve Haines, managing director for Openreach, said it was “great” to be able to work with the council to find “a fibre-broadband solution” for hard-to-reach communities.

“Openreach is committed to making fibre broadband as widely available as possible for households and businesses,” he added. “The technology really does have the ability to transform the way people interact online.”

Whitehill and Bordon regeneration stakeholders have long insisted that state-of-the-art broadband provision is essential to drawing potential employers to the town.

As well as domestic superfast broadband, the town could see investment in 5G technology in coming years thanks to the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership, which has committed millions to its digitally-focused Enterprise Zone, which covers TechForest at the former Louisburg Barracks, Basing View in Basingstoke and Long-cross Park near Chertsey.