John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle, has welcomed plans by Openreach to provide over 30,000 more homes in Carlisle with ultrafast full fibre broadband by 2026.
Last week, Openreach announced plans to build ultrafast, ultra-reliable Full Fibre broadband to at least three million more homes and businesses in some of the UK’s most hard to serve communities including 33,639 in the Carlisle constituency. The move, which follows an extended investment commitment by the BT Group – means Openreach will now build Full Fibre technology to a total of 25 million premises by an earlier deadline of December 2026, of which at least 6.2 million will be built via a commercially funded programme that focuses on the toughest to reach locations. This will create a total of 7,000 new jobs across Openreach and the supply chain, and recruitment will be commencing imminently for the first 1,000 of these roles. Opportunities will be advertised on the Openreach website.
John said, ‘This is very welcome news for the Carisle Consituency. Not only will it help accelerate the deployment of world class digital infrastructure across the area, it will contribute hugely to the levelling up agenda with the prospect of increased economic activity, higher employment with more jobs, increased opportunities for young people in the form of apprenticeships, and environmental benefits as carbon emissions will be cut as the reliance on commuter journeys lessens.’
A spokesman from Openreach added ‘The company’s updated build plan is aimed at helping the UK Government achieve its target of delivering gigabit capable broadband to 85% of the UK by 2025.’