£8m broadband boost for Wakefield and Pontefract as 27,000 homes to benefit from ultrafast fibre

When work is finished by Openreach the majority of people living and working in Pontefract and Sandal will be able to contact their broadband provider and upgrade to full fibre broadband.

This is a further boost for Wakefield where more than 41,000 homes and businesses can already access full fibre on the Openreach network with thousands more to come in Horbury, Lofthouse Gate and central Wakefield.

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 passing more than 50.000 new homes and businesses every week and installing around 800 metres of cable every minute, with our teams of highly-skilled engineers working alongside our build partners to deliver some of the fastest and most reliable broadband available anywhere in the world.

“We’ve already reached more than seven million homes and businesses across the UK with ultrafast full fibre technology including more than 41,000 in the Wakefield area but we know there’s more to do and we’re committed to doing it.”

Full fibre broadband is up to 10 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.

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.

Openreach engineers have been working hard to make the technology available to as many people as possible throughout the UK and the company’s plans are fundamental to the UK Government achieving its target of delivering ‘gigabit capable’ broadband to 85 per cent of UK by 2025.

You can find out more about the Fibre First programme, latest availability and local plans here.