Broadband, Brexit, credit cards and spending

Philip Hammond will provide more than £1 billion to improve broadband speeds for up 2 million homes and businesses as part of an infrastructure plan to be detailed in the Autumn statement tomorrow. The Guardian reports that, following calls from businesses for more support for the digital economy, the Chancellor will back a £400 million digital infrastructure fund. The Treasury hopes this amount will be matched by private sector investors. The Chancellor will also offer local authorities the opportunity to pitch for a percentage of a £740 million fund to trial superfast 5G mobile networks, linking them to fibre-optic systems to provide greater wireless capacity. Sir Mike Rake, chairman of BT, told the Today programme that BT has already developed an interim technology to get more fibre to the home. ‘We are committed to getting fibre to the premises because it’s much more reliable.’ Banks The Times reports that the amount of money in a bank that is protected by central government is expected to be increased to £85,000 early in the new year after a sharp fall in the value of sterling following the Brexit vote.