West Yorkshire Combined Authority are providing 1,700 businesses with superfast broadband through the third phase of its Superfast Broadband scheme.
The scheme will invest another £9.1m by October 2022, and it is estimated that due to the increase in business, it will add approximately £20m to the economy of the Leeds City Region.
Just under £7m is being funded by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, £1.4m is being found through private investors and another £748,000 is being invested by the combined authority.
Superfast broadband is described as being anything over 30Mb/s, which approximately 96% of England already has.
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Chair of the Combined Authority and Leader of Bradford Council, said:
“The need for reliable, high speed broadband connections has never been more important than over the past few months when millions of us have been working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Once complete, this investment will enable businesses to work effectively no matter where they’re based and enable more people to do their bit for the climate emergency by commuting less.”
Roger Marsh OBE, Chair of the LEP, said:
“The digital economy is now worth around £6.5 billion to the Leeds City Region and we’re frequently named as the best place in the UK to start and grow a business.
“This investment will enable more homegrown start-ups to thrive and encourage more companies to set up here creating the jobs and growth we need to fuel our recovery from the recent pandemic.”
