Lancashire Enterprise Partnership praises fibre broadband plans

Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has hailed a project to deliver fibre optic broadband to 97 per cent of properties across the county as "incredibly important" for the local economy.

The county council has enlisted BT to conduct the rollout, which is expected to create around 2,500 jobs and safeguard more than 1,200 over the coming years.

Work on the deployment is set to finish by the end of 2014, subject to the timing of state aid approval.

Edwin Booth, chairman of the LEP, said the initiative will "transform" broadband connectivity in Lancashire and help local firms expand to become global businesses.

"It will ensure that firms remain here and it will also attract a more diverse range of high-growth, high-value companies to the county," he added.

Mr Booth's comments come shortly after BT revealed it has increased the coverage of its next-generation copper broadband service in the north-west.

A further 43,600 properties in communities such as Cheshire, Mottram and Westhoughton have been hooked up to the technology in recent weeks.