PLANS to bring superfast broadband to homes and businesses in Skelmanthorpe have been welcomed by a local MP.

Simon Reevell, Conservative MP for Dewsbury, said the investment in fibre technologies by telecoms giant BT would bring faster connections to thousands of customers in Skelmanthorpe.

It is part of a programme to bring superfast broadband to more than 94,000 homes in West Yorkshire during 2012.

Mr Reevell said: “As we all increasingly rely on the internet, it is becoming clear that access to fast and reliable broadband is vital for homes and businesses.

Mr Reevell said he was continuing to push for an expansion of the area covered by superfast broadband and had also been in talks with BT about satellite broadband in the area.

BT’s Openreach business has added 178 exchanges to its fibre deployment programme for 2012 – covering more than 1.8m homes and businesses UK-wide.

It aims to cover two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014.

Olivia Garfield, chief executive of Openreach, said:

“Super-fast broadband is already within reach of more than 6m premises today and we are on track to pass 10m premises next year.”