CASH-strapped councils across Hampshire are set to spend millions of pounds in a bid to boost broadband speeds in rural areas.

Civic bosses are considering spending £5.3m to match a possible Government grant to upgrade the network across the county.

It is hoped the initiative will speed up the roll-out of fast broadband services to 91,000 homes and businesses.

Hampshire has been promised a £5.3m share of the broadband fund set aside by government if civic chiefs can provide matching funding.

The county council is proposing to contribute £2.5m while partner district councils together with Southampton and Portsmouth councils are expected to give £2.8m.

Under the proposals, the public money would be used to pay private telecom companies to improve the network, starting in 2013.

Rural areas There are gaps because the number of people living in rural areas compared to the cost of installing equipment is not considered a good return for their investment by the big commercial companies.

The argument is that without public subsidy, these “hard to reach” premises might not get fast broadband services for several years.

Council chiefs will be asked to confirm their commitment to the project at a meeting of the Senate at the county council headquarters in Winchester tomorrow. The plan would have to be approved by each individual local authority to become a reality.

The amounts councils are being asked to contribute range from £689,000 in the New Forest to zero in Eastleigh and Rushmoor.

Winchester City Council is expected to put in £278,000 and Southampton City Council £64,000.

Under a Government formula, proposed council contributions are based on the number of hard to reach premises in each area, for example because of distance from a telephone exchange.

The plan is to ensure 90 per cent of households have access to superfast broadband.

County council plans to recruit a high-paid “Broadband tsar” to head the project appear to have been dropped. Instead a manager has been appointed from within the IT team, saving public money.

The county council is proposing to offer the use of its own public services network, HPSN2, to telecom provider partners to cut costs by an estimated 30 per cent.

Investment Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council Keith House, who is also leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group on the county council, welcomed the investment.

Councillor House said: “I support this scheme as it will help competitiveness of business. Rushmoor and Eastleigh have no homes that are hard to reach in this tranche so are not expected to contribute.”

However, Christine Melsom, founder of anti-council group Is It Fair, said: “I think £5m is an awful lot of money to spend on broadband at a time when people are having to tighten their belts.

“I feel they are being a bit blasé. I would rather councils cut council tax.”