Manchester city centre struggling with broadband speeds

Manchester city centre struggling with broadband speeds

A recent report has highlighted the fact that even in the centre of a major city, fast broadband speeds cannot be taken for granted.

A campaign launched last month has seen a flood of complaints from people right in the centre of Manchester who aren't getting the broadband speeds they want. The council received over 500 signatures on a petition demanding action on the city centre's “terrible” internet speeds.

The news is particularly concerning given that Manchester is one of the British cities aiming to be counted among the world's top digital cities by 2020. It is also home to Media City, a major new development that includes BBC offices and other media businesses working hard to establish a new hub in the North West of England. The media industry has a high dependency on technology and reliable fast broadband is an essential component to operations.

City centre councillor Kevin Peel is driving the campaign to encourage ISPs to improve their services in the area. He said he was “quite overwhelmed by the volume of responses” his campaign has received so far, suggesting that it demonstrates the issue is “a real problem”.

The news comes as the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), a government initiative financed by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, has confirmed that it will provide funding of £700,000 for the 10 technology start-ups in the Greater Manchester area that won the Creative and Digital Launchpad competition.

The winners were deemed to have the most potential for innovation and growth out of all entrants and it is hoped that the additional finance will help generate new knowledge and skills needed to expand the business. The companies will, however, also need to ensure that they have access to reliable internet speeds if they want to give themselves the best chance of growth.

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