BT brings fibre broadband to eight West Yorks communities

Fibre optic broadband is now available to the first properties in another eight West Yorkshire communities.

More than 76,000 homes and businesses in Elland, Horbury Ossett, Ilkley, Milnsbridge, Moortown, Rawdon and Sandal are set to be connected over the coming weeks.

Openreach, BT's local access network business, is aiming to bring super-fast broadband to two-thirds of the UK by the end of 2014 thanks to a £2.5 billion investment.

The national rollout uses a mix of fibre-to-the-cabinet and fibre-to-the-premises technology, both of which offer significantly faster speeds than those currently available to the average British household.

John Anderson, BT's regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said super-fast broadband delivers a much-needed boost to businesses struggling in the current economic climate.

Commenting on the benefits of next-generation connectivity, he explained: "Fibre broadband offers local firms and households new ways of working flexibly and allows large data and video files to be sent and received almost instantly."