BT boosts north-west fibre broadband footprint

BT has announced its fibre optic broadband network rollout has been expanded to incorporate 15 more communities in the north-west of England.

The deployment is set to include 184,000 commercial and residential properties across the region, of which over 105,000 will be located in Greater Merseyside.

Aintree, Bootle, Kendal, Ardwick and Wigan are among the locations that will gain access to BT's super-fast broadband service when the work is completed during 2012.

Once the installation has come to an end, more than 1.7 million homes and businesses across the north-west will be reached by the fibre broadband network.

Mike Blackburn, BT's regional director for the north-west, said the faster upload speeds offered by the technology are set to help businesses by aiding flexible and remote working, potentially leading to lower office overheads.

"Large graphic and video files can be sent immediately online instead of being physically delivered to customers on hard disk," he explained.