Law firm advises on £23.8m GMCA full fibre connectivity grant

Law firm Hill Dickinson has advised on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s successful bid to fund the roll out of full fibre connectivity in the region.

The GMCA was granted £23.8m by the Government in the Chancellor Philip Hammond’s spring statement.

The GMCA was awarded the largest grant of the 13 successful regions, securing a quarter of the £95m total funding allocated.

It was the result of the Government Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) Wave 2 Funding round – drawn from a £190m Challenge Fund launched in the Autumn Budget 2017, designed to roll out full fibre connectivity to local areas.

And it will see more than 1,500 public sector premises across the health, education and local government sectors in Manchester connected to the new high-speed data technology.

Hill Dickinson partners Tracey Sheehan and Mark Fitzgibbon, head of commercial and IP, worked in close collaboration with FarrPoint’s, Dr Andrew Muir, Neil Watt and Jean-Donan Olliero, along-with Cube Ultra’s Robin Bosworth and with GMCA’s own internal procurement, commercial and economic teams on the successful bid for funding from the LFFN Challenge Fund.

Sheehan said: “This funding award is a fantastic outcome for the GMCA and the wider Manchester business community. Increasing full fibre connectivity will offer unlimited broadband speeds and pave the way for the roll out of 5G mobile data across Greater Manchester.

“This development also provides essential support for the city’s thriving digital sector. Hill Dickinson was privileged to advise on this successful local bid and is committed to providing the highest quality legal advice in telecoms and procurement.”