BT to upgrade Sheffield internet infrastructure

10:14 12th March 2009

Telecommunications giant BT is to upgrade 60 per cent of its telephone exchanges in Sheffield with its 21st Century Network, reports the Sheffield Telegraph.

The upgrades to the exchanges will help lift connection speeds in the city to as much as 20Mbps, far higher than the 2Mbps figure which remains the national average.

Despite lacking the ability to deliver speeds of 100Mbps facilitated by next-generation fibre optic networks, almost 120,000 lines will be speeded up by the improvements to the local infrastructure.

John Anderson, BT's regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, told the paper: "Sheffield is one of the first major communities in the UK to achieve this level of coverage. It is a key milestone for the city and fantastic to be part of this exciting, world-leading project."

Access to connection speeds up to ten times faster than the national average could encourage more people to pursue home learning courses.

Installing a nationwide high-speed network has been priced at nearly £30 billion.