£42m broadband network reaches more than half of Kirklees
Well over half (70 per cent) of homes and businesses on the Openreach network in the Kirklees area can now order some of the fastest, most reliable broadband in Europe thanks to a multi-million investment.
The company has spent more than £42 million[1] locally so far to build a new ultrafast, ultra-reliable Full Fibre network, in dozens of communities including in and around Batley, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike. Honley, Huddersfield, Kirkburton, Meltham and Milnsbridge.
The once-in-a-generation, full fibre broadband upgrade is bringing Kirklees some of the fastest, most reliable broadband anywhere in Europe. It will enable local people to connect multiple devices at gigabit-capable speeds and help businesses trade online and compete for decades to come.
However, thousands of residents have yet to upgrade, with only around 23 per cent of people adopting the service where it’s available, lagging behind the UK average of 34 per cent.
Matthew Lovegrove, Openreach Partnership Manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “This is a fantastic milestone to reach but there’s more to do. Our investment across the Kirklees area continues, and we’re determined to deliver a great service which helps communities to thrive and supports people to work from home easily, keep in touch with their loved ones and build connections and opportunities.
“Switching is easy and may even be cheaper than your existing broadband package but it’s important to remember that upgrades don’t happen automatically. People need to contact, and place orders through, their broadband service provider to take advantage.”
The Openreach network offers the UK’s biggest choice of broadband providers such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen – which means people have lots of choice and can get a great deal.
Even people with decent enough broadband speeds should check if they can upgrade, because full fibre is the future, and it provides the best broadband experience at great value for money. There’ll be no more worrying that your video call might freeze, or your files are failing to upload when everyone’s at home competing for bandwidth at the same time.”
Residents can enjoy a host of online services and entertainment such as seamless streaming, and smooth online gaming experiences. While businesses can operate with certainty that their broadband will support all their day-to-day, business critical tasks such as video calls, banking and customer interaction via social media platforms.
A report by the Centre for Economics & Business Research (Cebr) shows that connecting everyone in Yorkshire and the Humber to Full Fibre broadband would create a £3.3 billion boost to the local economy, by unlocking smarter ways of working, better public services and greater opportunities for the next-generation of home-grown businesses.
Openreach has announced plans to invest in Full Fibre broadband for the majority of premises in dozens of towns and villages across the Kirklees area. It’s part of the company’s plans to reach 25 million UK homes and businesses by the end of 2026.
ENDS
Notes to editors
Build information included in this news release reflects our plans at the time of publication. Building a new broadband network across the UK is a huge and complex national engineering programme, so please be aware some changes may occur where we encounter unforeseen obstacles.
[1] Investment figure based on an average build cost of £300 per premises
