Central Wakefield boosted to superfast speeds
Home and businesses in central Wakefield can now benefit from superfast speeds thanks to Superfast West Yorkshire.
Ten new fibre cabinets have been installed in the Yorkshire city, enabling more than 1,000 homes and businesses to access high speed, fibre broadband.
In the coming months, a further 900 premises will be able to access the new technology broadband as engineers from Openreach, BT’s local network business, complete further upgrades.
These upgrades build upon BT’s commercial roll-out of fibre broadband in central Wakefield which has made the high-speed technology available to more than 18,700 premises since the telephone exchange was upgraded in January 2014.
The arrival of faster broadband brings many benefits to the community. With faster upload and downloads speeds it makes having the whole household online, staying connected, shopping, paying bills and streaming TV even easier. Businesses can benefit too – whether it is the security of having reliable internet to work from home or the ability to compete in a global marketplace.
On average, customers in central Wakefield who switch to a fibre connection could see speed increases of between 26 to 32 Mbps compared to standard broadband, although these speeds will vary for each individual property.
Wakefield is the latest in a number of areas to be upgraded to superfast broadband as part of the multi million pound project rolling out across West Yorkshire.
Cllr Denise Jeffery, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Skills, at Wakefield Council, said:
“This is fantastic news as it is essential for businesses in our district to have access to fast and reliable broadband. It is also great that homes across the district will benefit too.”
Tom Keeney, BT’s regional director for Yorkshire and Humber, said:
“Superfast broadband technology continues to roll-out in both rural and more urban communities across West Yorkshire.
“Together, we and Superfast West Yorkshire are creating a lasting legacy which will play a vital role in the future success and prosperity of our local communities and across the UK.
“Already more than 750,000 households and businesses in West Yorkshire can benefit from the huge opportunities offered by fibre broadband with many more joining them every month.”
The Superfast West Yorkshire project has already passed the half way mark with more than 40,000 properties and businesses able to access the new technology to date. The project is due to complete by the end of September 2015.
Superfast West Yorkshire builds on BT’s commercial investment of £2.5 billion to rollout fibre broadband to two-thirds of UK premises.
For more information about the project, to find out when superfast broadband will be delivered in your area or for more information about ISPs visit www.get-fibre.co.uk
Notes to editors:
Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio is comprised of three elements:
• £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017
• £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities
• £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services
Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.
For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk
About Superfast West Yorkshire
Superfast West Yorkshire is a partnership between all five West Yorkshire local authorities and BT.
The partnership is jointly funded by Broadband Delivery UK (part of Department of Culture, Media and Sport), European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), local authority funds and BT investments.
The initiative, which is supported by the Leeds City Region Partnership, will ensure more businesses and residents across West Yorkshire get access to fibre broadband.
Superfast West Yorkshire aims to stimulate demand for superfast broadband across West Yorkshire and will also deliver a Business Support Programme to support businesses to maximise the opportunities superfast broadband can provide.
