High speed broadband rollout for Manchester city centre following campaign

Thousands of city centre residents are set to have access to hyper-fast fibre optic broadband following a campaign by Labour councillors.

Slow broadband speeds are a constant complaint in Manchester city centre, which despite being the region’s top economic hub suffers from a poor service.

One provider, Hyperoptic, has already started rollout with a commitment to deliver fibre optic links directly to a number of city centre buildings by the end of the year, with more to follow.

This will give thousands of residents the opportunity to subscribe to a broadband service with speeds of 20Meg, 100Meg or 1Gig – - UK’s fastest available speeds.

Labour councillors launched a petition several months ago aimed at demonstrating to service providers the demand for faster broadband.

The petition, which has received almost 600 signatures to date, prompted several potential providers to develop proposals to deliver services which could be introduced over the next six months.

Speaking at the launch of the rollout, Lucy Powell MP said: “It is simply unacceptable that you can get better broadband speeds in parts of rural Cumbria than you can in the centre of Manchester. I’m committed to working with councillors and internet providers to improve the service on offer to residents and businesses.”

Cllr Kevin Peel, who launched the petition, added: “I’m delighted that our petition has received such a positive response from the industry.

“The council wrote to over 100 potential providers at our request and I have met with several in recent months to discuss what they could offer, including Hyperoptic

“I am pleased that Hyperoptic is taking the initiative but I hope they won’t be the only ones. I look forward to residents being able to access hyper-fast fibre optic broadband from a range of providers in the coming months.”

Sharon Maybury, Hyperoptic business development manager, said of the partnership: “Over the past few weeks we’ve been working alongside Manchester City Council to discuss how we can bring Hyperoptic’s true fibre infrastructure to as many residents as possible across the city.

“Manchester is a leading creative, business and technology hub and requires a fast, consistent and dependable fibre connection.

“We’re excited to be involved in this project, which will enable residents to future-proof their online lives and enjoy the very best available gigabit speeds.”