Superfast West Yorkshire and York Broadband

The Superfast West Yorkshire and York Broadband programme concluded in June 2023 and was delivered over the course of three contracts to ensure increased access to reliable broadband. This has provided ‘superfast’ speeds for thousands of homes and businesses across our region.

Programme overview

‘Superfast Broadband’ is something you may have been hearing a lot about in recent years but what does it really mean and why is it needed? The term ‘Superfast’ describes an internet connection with download speeds of over 30Mbps (Megabits per second) but depending on the connection type and supporting technology this could potentially go as high as 1Gbps. However, these speeds cannot be delivered without improving the network.

Why are we upgrading?

In recent years broadband has become an essential utility, therefore upgrading to Superfast brings the potential to utilise the internet for so much more in your home or business. With it being integral to almost everything we do today, better connectivity can affect all aspects of our work and social lives.

A number of locations were considered unviable for many of the major commercial roll-outs, so this programme was initiated in 2013 to cover areas that may otherwise miss out on the exciting new advances.

It is the government’s current target to achieve 85% Gigabit Broadband coverage by 2025.

 

Which areas were covered?

The programme covers the following administrative districts; Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield and City of York. The Combined Authority is responsible for coordinating across all 6 regions to ensure an integrated and unified approach.

 

How was it funded?

Budget for Contracts 1 & 2 came from European Regional Development Funding, BDUK, the selected supplier (Openreach) and with some local body contribution.

The majority of Contract 3 was funded by DEFRA using money from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, with additional funding from the supplier (Quickline) and some local body contribution.

 

How was it delivered?

Working in partnership with the local bodies, suppliers and Building Digital UK, West Yorkshire Combined Authority delivered superfast broadband to many areas across our region.

This was a major undertaking and under Contracts 1 and 2 has required replacing the old copper phone network with brand new fibre-optic cable and unleashing the potential for greatly increased speeds and reliability. It has also opened the door to innovative solutions for remote areas where more traditional networks have struggled to reach until now. This includes a new fixed wireless solution which was delivered as part of Contract 3.

Projects and schemes within this programme

Browse the different projects within this programme by opening and closing the tabs below.

Superfast Fibre Broadband

The Superfast West Yorkshire project was originally set-up to provide high-speed fibre broadband to majority of West Yorkshire (excl. Kirklees) that was not included in any commercial rollout, due to being deemed uneconomically viable.

SFWY has been working closely with Building Digital UK (BDUK), which was newly created part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & and Sport (soon to move to Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) and has overarching control of the national programme.

 

Contract 1

The first contract was with the then BT Group, delivered from January 2014 to September 2015, and was to install cabinets in 430 locations. This would allow customers to access Superfast broadband via their nearest green on-street cabinet using their existing phone lines (this is known as FTTC). Now complete, fibre broadband is available to 97% of premises in the contracted region. After completion of Contract 1 the new connectivity is now available to an additional 64,500 homes and businesses.

 

Contract 2

The second contract, with Openreach, started in June 2015. Delivery completed in January 2022 and has entered closure procedures. Contact 2 was the next stage of the programme and introduced more focus on directly connecting premises to a local exchange, therefore bypassing any need to use the street cabinets and existing phone lines (this is known as FTTP). This allows much faster connections, although is more disruptive to install as it requires fibre optic cables to reach every individual property served. Being connected in this way can allow download speeds up to 330Mbps. The scope of the programme also widened under this contract to include Kirklees and the City of York.

As a result of Contract 2 a further 41,410 homes and businesses gained access to superfast speeds by the end of the contract. The £19.5 million deal was agreed to ensure areas in West Yorkshire and York currently without access to superfast broadband can upgrade.

 

Last updated February 2023

Fixed Wireless Broadband

In September 2020 the Combined Authority signed a third contract, as part of the SFWY&Y programme, with a new partner, Quickline Communications Ltd. This was to bring superfast broadband to rural locations that are very costly to reach by FTTC or FTTP technologies. 

This was achieved by deploying new masts and transmitters that are specifically designed to connect customers to the internet via a ‘Fixed Wireless Access’ network. Many of these rural locations also struggle to get a decent internet connection so it is a great alternative to fill that gap in service and rebalance the disparity between urban and rural. Because of the fixed nature, this should not be confused with mobile broadband (ie 3G, 4G and 5G) which you would receive on a device with a SIM card, such as your phone.

Public funding for this project was in place until 30th June 2022 with the remainder of the delivery being undertaken through private funding from the supplier up to 30th June 2023.

This Contract has now concluded having brought access to 5,571 eligible properties.

Just under £3m was provided by DEFRA / EAFRD plus contributions from the Supplier and Local Authorities. The Combined Authority have been working with Quickline to install new masts and transmitters around our region. Existing structures will also be utilised, where feasible, to minimise impact. This is a very exciting prospect for more remote areas as it helps to address some of the current inequalities that exist there. It should no longer be the case that residents and businesses in rural locations have to compromise between location and connectivity.

The network will be ‘open access’ meaning that a range of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can provide the broadband service to West Yorkshire residents using this infrastructure.

To receive a broadband service from the ISP will require customer premises equipment (CPE) being installed at your property. Once this is set up, you will be able to access superfast speeds without any need to lay cables or undertake costly infrastructure works.

More information on Quickline can be found on their website.

Last updated July 2023

Voucher schemes

Project Gigabit

On 19th March 2021 Building Digital UK (BDUK) announced the launch of Project Gigabit. This is a nationwide programme aiming to bring gigabit capable connections to more than a million hard to reach homes and businesses.

More info on this can be found here:

Project Gigabit - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Gigabit Vouchers

Residents may be able to apply for Gigabit Vouchers to help gain the coverage they need. After the success of previous schemes, another national programme worth £210m was launched on 8th April 2021. This means that rural communities can benefit from funding assistance in areas where there are no commercial plans. Note that the available funding is capped and that the roll-out of Project Gigabit may impact eligibility.

More information can be found here - Gigabit Vouchers (culture.gov.uk).

 

Contact links

Please be aware that the delivery of the Superfast programme has now concluded

Twitter:

West Yorkshire Combined Authority - @WestYorkshireCA

 

Facebook:

facebook.com/TheCombinedAuthority

 

Email:

If you have any questions specifically related to the Superfast West Yorkshire & York programme then please send us an email and we will endeavour to provide you with an answer.

customerfeedback@westyorks-ca.gov.uk

 

Privacy Policy

West Yorkshire & York Broadband Project Privacy Statement

 

Useful Links:

OFCOM speed checker

Openreach detailed checker

Quickline

Gigabit Vouchers

Connected West Yorkshire

 

Broadband project partner logos