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First Yorkshire premises connected to Quickline’s full fibre service

The first premises have been connected to Quickline’s fast and reliable full fibre as part of a government funded broadband scheme to improve connectivity in rural West Yorkshire and the York area.

It comes three months after the East Yorkshire based provider secured the contract under the government's UK-wide £5 billion Project Gigabit programme, which will bring fast network upgrades to 28,000 homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas in West Yorkshire and York that would otherwise have missed out.

Escrick, a small rural community south of York with around 380 premises, few local services and no mains gas supply, is the first community in Yorkshire to receive Quickline’s full fibre broadband. Deployment to the remainder of the village is due over the coming weeks and months.

A further 32,000 rural premises in South Yorkshire are set for Project Gigabit upgrades under a separate £44 million contract awarded to Quickline earlier this year.

The newly-connected properties are now using XGS-PON technology for their broadband, offering speeds of a gigabit and beyond.

Emma Tonkins, the first customer to be installed, said, "We have so many devices at home that are connected to the internet and we probably watch streaming services more often than regular television now so when we lose picture quality and get buffering it is quite frustrating.

"We just want to know that our broadband is reliable. We use the internet the same as anyone else, regardless of where we live and need to be able to rely on it working all the time, especially as more and more services move online."

Sean Royce, CEO at Quickline, said, "Winning the government Project Gigabit contract was a huge honour for us at Quickline but importantly, we want to ensure we make an impact quickly. That means we are building straight away, connecting customers straight away and taking communities out of the slow lane faster than other providers.

"As a dedicated rural provider, we know there are thousands of people who have long been underserved by decent broadband and it is imperative this is addressed as soon as possible."

Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, said, "It's fantastic to see our multi-million-pound investment in Yorkshire now delivering top-of-the-range broadband upgrades in rural areas previously stuck with snail's pace speeds.

"This is only the beginning of our plans for Yorkshire. Work is now underway to bring lightning-fast, ultra-reliable connections to dozens more villages and hamlets across the region, supercharging our mission to drive economic growth and expand opportunity for people wherever they live or work."

 

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