DORSET Council has been awarded £20,000 towards developing a pilot training programme for fibre engineers and help boost broadband provision in the county.

Nationally, 63 per cent of premises now have gigabit capable broadband whereas in Dorset the figure is just 15 per cent.

One of the factors affecting this is a lack of fully trained fibre engineers, and it is estimated the county needs around 300 engineers to fulfil the Government’s full-fibre roll out ambitions.

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A spokeswoman from Dorset Council, said: "In Dorset, 97 per cent of premises now have access to superfast broadband but the future is gigabit-capable.

"A huge factor affecting this is the national shortage of fibre engineers and in Dorset we want to take matters into our own hands and train people locally to fulfil these essential roles.

"Having enough fibre engineers in Dorset, will help broadband suppliers access the expertise needed and roll out full fibre to more of our premises in the county."

The council is looking to develop a pilot fibre engineer training programme and has been awarded funding from the Local Government Association Digital Pathfinders to help get things off the ground.

For more on this, email: connectingdorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk