The Manchester City Council has announced that the FTTP network proposed last year is all set for installation towards the end of this month. The installation work will begin from the Oxford Road area in Manchester.
The fibre optic based network is supposed to give businesses and residents, speeds of up to 1000 times faster than their current connectivity. Although, this may be exaggerated as similar networks elsewhere have shown speeds lower than 100Mbps, the upgrade is still quite a significant one considering the poor state of UK’s broadband infrastructure.
Speaking on the positive effect of this initiative on the people, Councillor Neil Swannick, executive member of environment said that it was important for the growth of Manchester’s economy to make high-speed wireless broadband services accessible and affordable to all. He stressed that providing advanced and state-of the-art technology with better services is the main objective of the Next Generation Digital City project, of which the current initiative is a part.
Swannick also accepted the fact that even though this project brings a most advanced broadband technology to the area, the UK still faces a serious competitive threat from its European counterparts. Other European cities such as Amsterdam and Paris already have similar superfast networks for homes and businesses, and the prices there are just a fraction of those in the UK. Thus, it is not only a risky situation for Manchester, but for the entire country, as other countries may start taking away business from the UK.
As far as Manchester is concerned, the first step will be to get the basic installation of the new FTTP service established. This will then be followed by attempts to expand the network to neighbouring areas. A rollout in the East Manchester area is expected to take place, followed by the establishment of a new Internet Hub in the Central Park District.
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