Faster broadband on stream

Broadband with speeds of up to 1000 Megabits per second Mbps (known as a Gigabit) is now accessible from another 365 homes and businesses in and around Tadcaster, Kirk Hammerton and Selby.

The new was welcomed by MP Nigel Adams who said homes and businesses where the new service is now available are being notified individually by letter.

Nigel Adams MP said: “This is a major leap forward in technology with speeds of up to a Gigabit per second available, delivering the ultimate broadband performance.

“With many more people working from home superfast broadband has never been so important.”

John Readman, Chief Executive of Modo 25, a Digital marketing company and who often works from home said: “We live in Catterton and our upgrade was completed just as we entered lockdown.

“The new broadband is hundreds of times faster and meant I had no need during lockdown to go into Leeds to work and the children were able to continue to study through on-line lessons.

“No more waiting to take turns to use the Internet – more than enough capacity for us all to use it at the same time.”

The 365 homes and businesses that can now benefit from the latest upgrade are in places where many are still connected via old technology.

In some of the villages that have just been upgraded the speeds are as low as 1Mbps.

The network upgrades have been delivered as part of Phase 3 of the Superfast North Yorkshire Project which has already made high quality broadband available to more than 180,000 homes across North Yorkshire.

New connections are now being made with the very latest full fibre technology, known as NGA – New Generation Access.

While speeds of up to 1000Mbps are available, service providers are offering a range of speed options which typically start at about 40Mbps.

Further details of the Superfast North Yorkshire project can be found on their website superfastnorthyorkshire.com

In total 14 village communities will benefit from this upgrade, either as an upgrade to the whole village, for example in Catterton, Thorpe Underwood, Smaws Hamlet and Lumby or as an upgrade to part of a larger village like Kirk Hammerton.

A number of properties outside the villages of Bolton Percy, Steeton, Escrick and Thorpe Willoughby will also be able to access full fibre broadband.

Mr Adams added: “The broadband upgrade started in 2013 and is a continuous process as new technology is made available.

“When the project started in 2013 speeds were typically 5Mbps or less, now speeds of over 25 Mbps are the norm.

“Speeds of up to 1000Mbps are truly New Generation Access and I am delighted that the Government is delivering on its promise to make Gigabit broadband much more widely available, especially to our rural communities.”