Firms and homes in parts of central Manchester are to
get high-speed fibre broadband as a result of a £500,000 project
funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency and backed
byManchester
City Council.
The project is the first phase in a new digital infrastructure
for the city. It will directly connect 500 businesses and 1,000
homes in the Oxford Road area with fast fibre optic broadband
access. Target access speeds are 100mbps.
BT has delivered similar fibre broadband speeds to firms and
residents in part of Ebbsfleet in Kent. Virgin Media is currently
selling 50mbps fibre broadband packages in its cable network
areas.
Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said, "Even at
this time of economic downturn Manchester has ambitious plans for
its knowledge economy. We are committed to delivering
next-generation broadband, and this new advanced infrastructure
will help create exciting and innovative new applications for the
internet, which will benefit our residents and businesses."
Jackie Potter, chief executive of the
Corridor Manchester
development consortium, said, "One of the key aims for Corridor
Manchester is to drive economic growth in the Oxford Road area of
the city. By providing high-speed broadband we can not only help
the universities, schools and hospital network enhance their
services, but also attract new businesses to the city."
It is expected that work to install the fibre network will begin
in the summer, with the first cluster of properties online by the
end of the year.
Once the first phase of fibre installation is completed, it is
intended to expand the project by rolling it out across Manchester,
starting with the east Manchester area, which includes deprived
areas of the city.
Expansion plans include the creation of a new internet
infrastructure hub at the former Sharp factory site at Newton
Heath, east Manchester.