High-speed broadband will bring jobs to Rotherham, predicts BT

BT says a major new investment could bring new businesses and hundreds of new jobs to Rotherham.

The communications giant says high-speed fibre broadband will be rolled out to more than 30,000 homes and businesses in Rotherham and Thorne during 2013.

The investment - part of a £2.5 billion BT roll-out of fibre broadband across the UK - is expected to give a major lift to the local economy.

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BT says recent research by Regeneris Consulting predicts that over the next 15 years BT’s fibre broadband could give the economy of a typical town a £143 million boost, create 225 new jobs and 140 new start-up businesses.

John Anderson, BT regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "The arrival of fibre broadband in Rotherham and Thorne is a massive shot in the arm for the local economy, creating new businesses, jobs and educational opportunities.

"The benefits are major and wide ranging. As our new fibre network expands across Yorkshire and the Humber it also brings new potential for offering essential public services on-line and cost savings across the sectors.

"Local firms and households who make the switch to fibre broadband will be able to do so much more with their connection, whether they're using it for business, entertainment, education, social networking or shopping - or all of these at once. They're joining more than 10 million premises now passed by our fibre network and becoming part of one of the fastest roll-outs of the technology anywhere in the world."

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 BT's local network business Openreach is making fibre broadband available to around two-thirds of UK homes and businesses by the end of 20141.

Both offer speeds many times faster than those currently available to most UK homes and businesses. FTTC, where fibre is delivered to the street cabinet, offers download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps2. FTTP, where fibre runs all the way to homes and businesses, offers download speeds of 110Mbps, with 330Mbps2  coming soon.

By spring 2013 BT aims to make speeds of 330Mbps2 commercially available in any area where fibre broadband has been deployed3. The UK's current average broadband speed is 7.6Mbps, according to the regulator Ofcom.

Internet users with a fibre broadband connection can do much more online, all at the same time. A family can download a movie, watch a TV replay service, surf the net and play games online simultaneously. A whole album can be downloaded in less than 30 seconds and a feature length HD movie in less than 10 minutes, whilst high-resolution photos can be uploaded to Facebook in seconds.

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Upload speeds are the fastest widely available to consumers in the UK, with large video and data files being sent almost instantly and hi-resolution photos posted online in seconds. And high quality voice and video calls mean businesses can keep in touch with customers while they cut down on travel.

For further information on Openreach's fibre broadband programme visit www.superfast-openreach.co.uk

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