Thousands across Skipton missing out on faster broadband
Just 13 per cent of homes and businesses who can upgrade to Ultrafast Full Fibre across Skipton have done so – with thousands still missing out on faster, more reliable broadband services.
Following a £2.4 million local investment, Openreach’s chief engineers have been busy building the network to make ultrafast speeds of up to one gigabit per second (Gbps) available to the majority of the market town.
People living and working there are being encouraged to find out more about the faster broadband – as the latest figures show that Openreach’s Full Fibre network – used by the likes of BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen – is now available to more than 8,000 premises.
As well as being faster, Full Fibre broadband provides more reliable, resilient and future-proof connectivity, with fewer faults; more predictable, consistent speeds; and enough capacity to use multiple devices at once.
Openreach has also announced plans to build in eight other nearby communities including Bentham, Cross Hills, Ingleton, Gargrave and Settle.
Matthew Lovegrove, Openreach’s regional manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “Fast and reliable Full Fibre broadband gives households and businesses a boost. It can have a huge impact on people’s daily lives and it’s great for the economy too.
“The important thing to remember is that upgrades don’t happen automatically. People need to contact, and place orders through, their broadband provider to take advantage.”
“Our engineering build continues across Yorkshire and we’re determined to deliver a great service to local residents, helping people to work from home easily and build connections and opportunities in their communities. This network’s also future-proof so it’ll work for decades, no matter how much bandwidth we need and what life throws at us next.”
Packages from a wide range of broadband providers are increasingly competitively priced, meaning people may pay similar, or even less, per month than their current bill for a much-improved service.
Once somebody places an order with a service provider, an Openreach engineer will visit on an agreed day. They’ll run a new fibre optical cable from underground or a nearby pole to a small junction box on the outside wall of the premises. A smaller cable goes through the outside wall to an inside unit - which needs to be near a double electricity socket. Before they leave, the engineer will test the connection to make sure it’s up and running.
Openreach has announced plans to invest in Full Fibre broadband for the majority of premises in dozens of towns and villages across North Yorkshire. It’s part of the company’s plans to reach 25 million UK homes and businesses by the end of 2026. This short video explains what full fibre technology is and you can find out more about our build programme here.
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 £3.8 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.
