Council proposes 'ultrafast broadband' for Liverpool businesses
An ultrafast broadband could be set up in Liverpool using ducts owned by the council, which would result in no expenses in digging up the roads and pavements to install the network.
The council would offer the utilisation of the ducts in exchange for rental income and a share of the revenue.
It comes after growing dissatisfaction with the city's broadband speeds and a request from Mayor Joe Anderson to internet service providers that would be interested in renting out the ducts, which are currently being used for police communications and traffic signals.
Councillor Gary Millar, the cabinet minister for business, enterprise and investment, said: “I know from my discussions with potential investors that the city is losing out on investment and business growth because of a perception about broadband speeds in the city simply not being fast enough.”
Mr Millar has admitted that the speeds are not acceptable and that current businesses need to be able to “take advantage of faster speeds” to handle growth and win more business for the City of Liverpool.
“We also need existing businesses to be able to take advantage of faster speeds to handle growing needs and enable them to win more contracts and custom. As well as supporting existing firms, it will also help us attract new businesses to the city.
“We have exciting times ahead of us and in this case, our ambition is to be fast, really fast and if possible as ultra fast as technology allows — and with the help of providers make it as low cost as it can be,” he said.
Councillor James Noakes, the mayoral lead for energy and smart city, agreed: “We are making progress in connecting some parts of the city to superfast broadband through the Merseyside Connected programme, but we believe this could be a game changer and give us world-class connection speeds.”
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(Image: Kings Sutton)
