When complete the work by Openreach – the UK’s largest digital network provider, used by the likes of BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen, will mean communities will be able to contact their broadband provider and upgrade to full fibre broadband, with the new network being built to the majority of premises in Dunnington, Huby, Strensall, and Wheldrake.
Robert Thorburn, Openreach’s regional director for the North, said: “Nobody in the UK is building full fibre faster, further or at a higher quality than Openreach. 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.
“In 2021 our engineers built around 770 metres of new broadband cables every minute – making Ultrafast broadband available to another home every 13 seconds. We’ve already reached six million homes and businesses across the UK with ultrafast full fibre technology including around 480,000 in Yorkshire and the Humber but we know there’s more to do and we’re committed to doing it.”
Full fibre broadband is up to ten times faster than the average home broadband connection and around five times more reliable than the traditional copper-based network, providing more predictable, consistent speeds.
Across Yorkshire and the Humber around 91,000 homes and businesses have already ordered a full fibre service from a range of retail service providers using the Openreach network. But this means another 389,000 could be benefiting from some of the fastest, most reliable broadband connections in Europe and have yet to upgrade.
Recent research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) highlighted the clear economic benefits of connecting everyone in Yorkshire and the Humber to full fibre. It estimated this would create a £3.8 billion boost to the local economy.