Superfast broadband reaches 4,000 premises in Greater Manchester

Thousands of homes and businesses in Greater Manchester have gained access to superfast broadband.

As part of the Get Digital Faster programme, new green street cabinets have been implemented across Wigan and Tameside, upgrading the wiring from copper to fibre. This has meant that 4,000 people living and working in the area can now access internet speeds of up to 80Mbps.

This news brings the total of premises to have benefited from faster broadband to 16,000 since the initiative began in June 2014. By March 2016 it is expected that a further 8,500 home and businesses in Wigan and 6,000 in Tameside will be connected to superfast networks, the programme's directors have confirmed.

Wigan Council’s deputy leader, councillor David Molyneux, said the programme was a key part of the council’s effort to boost the local economy. He commented: “This high speed technology can change business and home life for the better.

“Work can be done from home or the workplace and this will help to transform the local economy – encouraging businesses to invest in the borough – which is one of our top priorities.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the UK, the Welsh government is taking action to plug the gaps in superfast broadband coverage. It announced that it is offering contracts to communications firms worth between £1 million and £3 million to cover areas that cannot be covered within the existing Superfast Cymru, which aims to deliver high-speed broadband to 96 per cent of the Welsh population (690,000 premises) by 2016.

This is in line with the UK government's superfast broadband plans. Superfast broadband is available to 78 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK but by 2017, thanks to a £1.7 billion investment, this figure is hoped to reach 95 per cent.

Businesses struggling with the performance of their existing network could consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network for fast, reliable internet speeds.

(Image: graham)