A NEW multi-million pound deal will mean better broadband for thousands of homes across the borough.

Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to connect areas which, without intervention, would miss out on fast and reliable, gigabit-capable broadband.

It means households will no longer have to struggle with limited bandwidth and businesses will be able to improve their productivity, no matter where they are.

The new £104m deal will fund the roll-out of a full fibre network to up to 32,100 premises across rural South Yorkshire, including thousands of homes in Barnsley and Penistone.

Yorkshire firm Quickline have been awarded a contract to conduct the works in Barnsley.

Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said: “Thanks to Project Gigabit, thousands of rural homes and businesses will soon be able to access the fastest broadband speeds on the market.

“This marks an important milestone in our drive to tackle poor connectivity.

“Patchy connectivity in Barnsley will soon be a thing of the past and lightning-fast broadband will open up new opportunities, driving employment and economic growth.”