According to several recent reports, Manchester is to become a testing ground for the next stage of the UK’s broadband network development.
The government, along with telecoms companies like BT, have been talking for what seems like years about how best to advance broadband in this country, all the while falling ever further behind places such as Japan and South Korea where superfast internet speeds are the norm, not just a distant dream.
They even produced a report looking at the various ways in which the broadband expansion might be funded, including the introduction of a levy (read: tax) on phone lines to pay for high speed network upgrades.
Now, it seems there might finally be some light at the end of the tunnel, as our own fair city plays host to a relatively small scale project, which, if successful, could shape the future of internet use and broadband connectivity in the UK.
The latest round of work will see high speed fibre optic broadband lines fitted along the Oxford Road ‘Corridor’ area, alongside SDSL and ADSL connections between businesses, homes and university buildings. The aim is that users in the vicinity will be able to take advantage of connection speeds of up to 100Mbps, as well as getting their telecoms services from multiple providers, rather than just one.
While I commend the fact that the high speed broadband ball is finally rolling, and feel pride that once again Manchester is at the centre of innovation when it comes to technology, I can’t help but feel that there could be more progress being made. It seems we’ve waited years for… what… one road lined with fast internet?
Hopefully the pilot will be a success and we’ll start to see the rollout of more high speed broadband around the UK – before we fall even further behind our global competitors.