Tens of thousands of residents and businesses in Sheffield and other 35 cities and towns are expected to benefit from Openreach’s new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology soon. Works on the new network will start early next year following a period of planning and surveying. The rollout complements Superfast South Yorkshire program, an ongoing fibre broadband roll-out, a partnership between the four South Yorkshire local authorities, Openreach and the UK government.
Councillor Olivia Blake, deputy leader of Sheffield City Council, said: “Sheffield is well covered by superfast broadband, over 96% of homes and businesses can access broadband with speeds of over 30Mbps. However, we want our residents and businesses to be able to access the next generation of technology as soon as possible.
“This announcement by Openreach will soon help our businesses to be more productive and more competitive and it will mean our homes can access the connectivity they need for modern living – such as home working, video streaming and computer gaming.
“Sheffield has an ambition that no one is excluded from the digital age and the socio-economic benefits of being online. Openreach will install full fibre broadband across the city, including council-owned social housing, meaning that everyone will have the chance to benefit from the best networks available.”