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Rural communities currently underserved by broadband could be set to get a boost after one organisation raised enough money to quadruple its network.
Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN), a community benefit society, has been seeking investment through Triodos Bank's crowdfunding platform with a target of £3 million.
The organisation has now announced that the £2 million benchmark has already been reached, with money coming from both retail and institutional investors.
Over the next four years, B4RN will consequently be able to extend its network's reach up to 20,000 properties, helping to tackle the issue of slow or non-existent broadband that continues to blight rural British communities.
According to recent analysis by the county councils network, broadband speeds in the countryside can be up to three times slower than those in neighbouring cities due to a paucity of digital infrastructure.
Meanwhile, uSwitch discovered that a quarter of homes achieve speeds of less than 10Mbps, while some connections can be as slow as 5Mpbs, nowhere near enough to carry out everyday tasks such as downloading films or streaming.
The crowdfunding investment offer will remain open until July 1st 2019 and it is hoped the £3 million target will be reached by then, with the current average investment at £3,300.
Chief executive of B4RN Barry Forde said he is delighted, adding: "Investors from all over the UK have got behind us and will help us to connect more properties, more quickly than we would have usually been able to do."
The news could mean more internet service providers are able to develop their packages for even the most remote areas in the UK.
B4RN's gigabit-capable network is entirely fibre optic and the fastest available in Britain, with more than 5,000 properties already connected.
