More than 1,500 homes and business can now hook up with a new digital future after a high speed broadband network was officially launched in Tameside.
The rollout of fibre broadband, the new technology that can transform home and work, was off the starting blocks in Hyde when BT and council chiefs switched on the first green street cabinet.
By March 2016 almost 6,000 firms and homes will be able to link to the network. The turn on is part of the Get Digital Faster programme, delivered across eight council areas* by Transport for Greater Manchester [TfGM] in partnership with BT.
Tameside Council’s First Deputy, Cllr Jim Fitzpatrick, said the switch on was just the start of a new future for the borough.
Cllr Fitzpatrick, said: “I’m delighted that Tameside is now starting to roll out high-speed broadband across the borough, which means we will now be able to feel the benefits of the Get Digital Faster programme. Although it is a new project, BT has been busy installing these new cabinets all over the borough, so already, along with our Greater Manchester colleagues we are taking significant steps towards making our county one of the world’s top 20 digital areas by the end of the decade.”
Tony Morgan, who is playing a leading part in the rollout of the Get Digital Faster programme said the dedicated group of partners had combined their efforts to make it all possible. Eventually the network will cover 99.4 per cent of the eight-council area when combined with the commercial rollout by various companies including BT.
Tony Morgan, BT’s Greater Manchester Client Director, said: “Businesses and homes in Tameside can now join the high speed network age, giving them access to new opportunities for their firms and their families. At work and at home people have the chance to link up to a more connected community thanks to the hard work of Openreach engineers and Wigan Council. The additional funds from Broadband Delivery UK, the European Regional Development Fund and the coordination from the Transport for Greater Manchester team will ensure the job gets done.”
Residents and businesses in Tameside can look forward to download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps**.
This will bring benefits to homes and businesses alike. Businesses will be able to conduct their transactions more quickly and efficiently and households will be able to surf the internet, download large files of information, upload photographs, and download music, films and television programmes all at the same time, and more quickly than ever before.