South Yorkshire in line for broadband boost

Homes and businesses in South Yorkshire are in line for a significant boost to their broadband speeds as a new fibre-based network is to be built in the region.

The Yorkshire Forward development agency has appointed French firm Thales to build the new network which will provide speeds of up to 50 mbps.

Covering almost 600,000 homes across South Yorkshire, the fibre-optic connections will substantially increase the reliability and quality of VoIP services in the area due to the greater bandwidth available.

Although cities have improved their connections to broadband services immensely over the past few years, there has been concern that people and businesses in countryside areas could be left behind.

Rural communities commission chairman Stuart Burgess told the Norfolk Eastern Daily Press that businesses in the countryside "saw potential in developments in IT and knowledge-based jobs, and highlighted the importance of access to good quality broadband services to help small businesses develop".