24 December 2007
A new next-generation broadband network is to be installed in South Yorkshire by French engineers Thales, the Times reports.
Around 600,000 homes will be covered by the network - which will incorporate fibre-optic technology and will allow connection speeds of 50Mbps.
Average UK broadband speeds, using copper wire phone line networks, stand at 2-3Mbps, with most providers offering a top speed of 8Mbps.
The project, one of the first of its kind in the UK, was backed by local businesses, the EU and the council.
Included in the new fibre-optic network will be the cities of Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham.
The cost of a national fibre-optic network, which could run to the tens of billions, has thus far put off its implementation in the UK.
However, the technology is already widely used in South-East Asia and Scandinavia - countries which are feeling the benefits of increased connection speeds as a result.
Elsewhere, a BT-run fibre optic network is currently operational for broadband users in Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent - although it is no a far smaller scale than the South Yorkshire project.
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