Fibre rollout brings jobs to Lancashire

A £389m programme to improve the digital infrastructure of the North West will create hundreds of jobs in the area.

CityFibre has appointed Telent to deliver its full fibre rollout in Blackpool, Preston and Chester. Including additional work in South and West Yorkshire, the current phase of the programme will connect 27 towns and cities, reaching approximately up to 3 million premises, and create 970 network construction jobs.

Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: "Alongside improving transport links, full fibre is critical to powering the economy and boosting productivity across the Northern Powerhouse. 

"Creating jobs in fast-growing sectors such as digital, enabling the fourth industrial revolution in manufacturing through to energy and in health, will be critical to levelling-up and driving forward the recovery - as well as the direct employment from the build out of these networks at a time of heavy job losses. 

"The Northern Recovery Plan we are calling for will see digital infrastructure play a crucial role. We must follow CityFibre's lead and start to build back better now - even under heightened national restrictions - in order to create new jobs and close the North – South divide. It is government's role to back this where they can.”

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