City to pilot ultra fast broadband

MANCHESTER will be one of the first locations in the UK to test a new ultra-fast fibre broadband.

BT’s local network business Openreach said the city was one of eight pilot locations for the new service known as ‘FTTP on Demand’.

This product, which Openreach intends to make commercially available from early next year, will enable customers to order an ultra-fast 330Mbps broadband connection directly to their home or business in an area served by Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology.

Previously, in order to receive 330Mbps speeds, customers had to be located in an FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) enabled area.

BT said the pilot would be held in two phases so that Openreach can “explore and resolve” the challenges in deploying the service with companies providing broadband services.

Manchester is part of  Phase two, which will run from March to May 2013.

Mike Blackburn, BT’s regional director for the North West, said: “It is excellent news that Manchester is playing a leading role in developing this exciting technology.

“This ultra fast service can make a major contribution to the efficiency and competitiveness of local businesses and so play a major role in the future prosperity of the region. It is a further demonstration of BT’s determination and commitment to ensuring Manchester has world class communications.”