Highest digital data speeds for Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester’s local authorities have issued a major £32 million tender request to enable high-speed, ‘full-fibre’ data connectivity at public sector sites across the city-region.

‘Full fibre to the premises’ (FFTP) broadband has no speed or bandwidth limit. Through the tender, over 1,300 public sector sites across Greater Manchester will be connected up with up to 450km of new full-fibre cables, ready to send and receive high-speed digital data.

This is expected to trigger significant additional private finance investment of over £200 million from the private sector that will be keen to capitalise on the upgrade and deliver similar connections to business and residential customers. The project is expected to lead to an increase of full-fibre coverage from three per cent now to around 25 per cent within three years, giving Greater Manchester the best high-speed digital infrastructure coverage of any city-region in the UK.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Connecting Greater Manchester’s public sector sites in this way will supercharge our digital capacity and trigger major private investment. As well as revolutionising our online public services, it will provide a huge boost to Greater Manchester’s economy and productivity, cementing our position as one of the leading digital city-regions in Europe.”

Andrew Western, GMCA Digital City Region lead said: “The full-fibre high-speed data network will have a transformational impact on digital infrastructure in Greater Manchester. It opens opportunities to better connect public services, for future IoT and 5G uses, and will enable more dynamic management of the transport network, including faster response times to manage real-time incidents and traffic flow. We are also committed to encouraging wider full-fibre investment across the city-region by minimising construction costs for all providers through our GM Prospectus, which will create standardised wayleaves and harmonise regulations between our local authorities.”

Outside of this tender, Tameside and Manchester councils are also actively investing in full-fibre connectivity and sharing part of the £23.8 million successfully secured by Greater Manchester as part of the government’s Local Full Fibre Network initiative.