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89,000 homes in Yorkshire to gain broadband access

89,000 homes in Yorkshire and the Humber are set to gain access to faster broadband in Yorkshire and the Humber thanks to BT.

Pateley Bridge, Great Ayton, Watton, Bubwith, Askern and Hipperholme are among the latest communities in the region to be included in the roll-out of BT’s next generation broadband service delivered over copper lines. They are due to be upgraded by the Spring of next year.

Download speeds are also set to increase to up to 20 megabits per second, which is double speeds currently available.

This will now mean that 87% of homes and businesses in Yorkshire will be serviced by an exchange which has been upgraded to deliver these higher speed.

The investment was welcomed by Andrew Palmer, regional director of the CBI who said: “This investment is very welcome and great news for local businesses who need high quality communication networks to allow them to compete more effectively.”

John Anderson, BT’s regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber believes that the roll out will offer a great opportunity for Yorkshire and the Humber.

He added: “The technology is having a major impact on our everyday lives and changing for the better the way we live, helping businesses work more efficiently and flexibly and to find new markets.

“And communities are better able to make use of the huge range of on-line educational and entertainment opportunities available. But there is still much work to be done and we want to work with the public sector to find solutions for even the most challenging locations.”

This investment in the copper network is in addition to BT’s £2.5 billion roll-out of fibre-based broadband, which will bring even faster speeds to around two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .