Lancaster sees fibre optic broadband gains

Engineers are close to completing BT's fibre optic broadband infrastructure in Lancaster, connecting roughly 21,000 homes and businesses to a super-fast internet network.

It is already available in nearby areas like Ashton-on-Ribble, Broughton, Chorley, Fulwood and Leyland, and this development will take the number of properties in Lancashire with access to next-generation broadband to 140,000.

The scheme is expected to extend to a number of other conurbations in the county over the course of 2012 as the British communications giant expands its network across the UK.

Mike Blackburn, BT's north-west regional director, said the arrival of super-fast broadband in the area would provide an economic boost to the area's businesses.

"These are economically challenging times and super-fast broadband can transform their experience of the internet," Mr Blackburn explained.

In February, Lancashire County Council announced that 2,200 rural homes and businesses in the east of the region had been chosen to pilot a scheme providing them with super-fast broadband.