Broadband upgrade for 465,000 more homes and businesses in Yorkshire

Broadband network provider Openreach says around 465,000 more homes and businesses across Yorkshire and the Humber are set to receive a broadband boost worth about £186m.

People living and working in parts of North, South and West Yorkshire will benefit from the company’s national upgrade plan, with the majority of premises in each area gaining access to the latest ultrafast Full Fibre broadband.

Locations include Barnsley, Knaresborough, Rotherham, Slaithwaite, Sowerby Bridge and Starbeck.

Work will take place between now and 2026, and more details of the full list of locations and timescales are published on Openreach’s website

The news comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement last month, when 160,000 premises – in mainly rural and harder to serve areas across Yorkshire and the Humber – were also included in the build plan.

Following a competitive tender process, partners Telent Infrastructure Services and MAP Group Ltd, were chosen by Openreach to support the upgrades and will play a crucial role in building the new network.

Robert Thorburn, Openreach’s regional director for the North, said: “We’re reaching more communities than ever and our team of highly-skilled engineers, alongside our build partners, are working hard to deliver some of the fastest and most reliable broadband available anywhere in the world.

“Just last month we announced dozens of rural and hard to reach locations across Yorkshire and the Humber were to benefit, so it’s great that we’re able to reveal another huge broadband boost for the region with these additional locations.”

Ric Welsby, managing director of Telent Infrastructure Services, said: “We are very pleased to be supporting Openreach in the build of this ultrafast and ultra-reliable full fibre broadband network.

“The long-term contracts we have been awarded allow us to recruit the people we need to provide an excellent service.

“We have many exciting roles to fill, I would encourage anyone who is interested in working on this important national infrastructure project to visit our website.”

Sarb Singh, director of operations, Map Group (UK) Limited, said: “We’re delighted to be working alongside Openreach. We share a common goal to build the best possible network with the highest quality of service and courtesy to householders and businesses.

“The upgrade will vastly improve download speeds and the quality of video calls and streaming.

“We are proud to be associated with what is being seen as significant step on the road back to economic recovery after the Covid lockdown.”