Super Fast Broadband Manchester & Salford

[jrb]

An excellent read. Well worth your time. Link below the posts.

Item 6 - Digital Manchester Update PDF 1.93 MB

Access and Connectivity
1. CONNECTED CITIZENS – 100% Broadband Coverage:
· Wi-Fi in all public spaces and high speed wireless across Manchester
· Superfast and where available Ultrafast Broadband
2. CONNECTED BUSINESSES - All businesses have access to fast broadband services and
are supported with advice to best exploit it and/or financial assistance in accessing even
better/faster services.
3. CONNECTED MANCHESTER – public and private sector better connected. Lead and
deliver a more coordinated partnership to drive improvements and market the city as a
successful digital place to attract new business.
Engagement
4. DIGITAL SKILLS – from officers and members; primary school children; Academies and
Universities; to adult education we need excellence at all ages to provide the best digital
education and further education to support people today to get the skills needed for future jobs.
Digital Championing of knowledge transfer about the benefits of ‘Going Digital’. This includes
use of digital technology but more importantly design, research and development.
5. SOCIAL CITY – an open and transparent, digital embracing City Council and Marketing
Board. Accelerate social media and engagement, advance our website and web advertising
focus, enrich content, maximise offline digital advertising, fully utilise e-opportunities (e.g. ezines/
e-bulletins), Embrace growth in mobile by increasing mobile content, mobile advertising
and mobile apps. The development of a Manchester super app (Mapp) is one opportunity, the
delivery of many consolidated into a New York-style hub is another. Work with the private
sector to support fast progress and crowd sourcing with a hackathon, fully exploit GIS mapping
utilisation etc.
6. DIGITAL REFORM – encourage and enable more people to become self-service
customers, use CRM integration to deliver reform and efficiencies. By providing continued
focus on key digital platform excellence, openness, tools, fast accessible connectivity and skills
to citizens and business we will allow people to become self-sufficient and help them achieve
their full potential.
Industry
7. ECONOMIC GROWTH -stimulate and grow the creative and digital sector. As one of our
three most important areas of job creation we have to support, encourage and instigate growth
from skill development from an early age, inward investment, procurement to maximising
global opportunities of our home-grown talent.
Place
8. DIGITAL PLACE – the City’s digital landscape supports the vision of Digital Manchester –
from advertising options to wayfinding, real time tram information to digital tourism – Microsoft
surface maps, interactive tours etc. Digital Master planning should be considered at the same
time as physical infrastructure and should fundamentally be led by the needs of the digital
resident. Providing a joined up voice to drive coordinated development is vital.
Leadership
9. DIGITAL INVESTMENT / RESOURCES – exploit new investment opportunities, public and
private, that can help accelerate the delivery of our ambitions.
10. DIGITAL LEADERSHIP – digital at the heart of Manchester strategies to promote a truly
digital city in all we do from transport to health, education to public services. Consolidate and
coordinate approaches to development based on need – not multiple people trying to achieve
the same end via different methods. Think digital first and lead the way.

Also.

Manchester: a truly global digital conten hub by 2025.


Also.

DIGITAL MANCHESTER 2012

Manchester is charging towards a digital future. The city that gave
birth to the Industrial Revolution is, once again, demonstrating the
willingness to combine science and technology with commerce
to create the successful, modern city we see today.

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/egov_do...chester_1_.pdf












 




 


 




[TheFly]

Originally Posted by WingTips

Sky confirms 76Mbps is available to all

Up to 76Mbps broadband is now available to new and existing Sky customers.
Sky has confirmed that its up to 76Mbps fibre optic broadband service is now available to all customers.

The satellite broadcaster launched the product in April, but it was initially available only to new subscribers who did not already have Sky Fibre or Sky Broadband.

However, the company has now revealed that everyone can sign up for its fastest connection. "All our broadband products are open to all customers covered by Sky's network," a Sky spokeswoman told ZDNet UK.

It is thought that Sky had not completed development work to transfer its existing customers from the old to the new system by the time it began selling the super-fast broadband service.

The up to 76Mbps proposition hit the market at the same time as Sky's up to 38Mbps product, with both of these packages supported by BT's fibre-to-the-cabinet infrastructure.

More than ten million homes and businesses across the UK are currently served by BT's fibre broadband networks.

The telecoms giant is aiming to increase this coverage to two-thirds of properties by the end of 2014 under its £2.5 billion national rollout.

Bit of a late reply to this one but this is clearly misleading.

It implies all SKY BB customers can get FTTC. Only those on SVBN (Sky voice and broadband network) can get fibre. I am not sure of the percentage this equates to but I can assure you it is very far from complete. Many exchanges are not SVBN equipped and potentially will not be...

[TheFly]

Originally Posted by Fortun3

Thanks for the tips - I spotted this article recently: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/broa...ck-unreliable/

I called BT but unfortunately no change for those of us who live on the road named 'The Quays'.

I don't even want to consider the motivations of BT for not rolling out fibre when they can. Even leaflets through the door would be a more advanced sales technique.

That news smacks of an organisation rotten to the core. What business logic can they have for not selling their premium priced package when available. I will go as far as saying that is unprecedented in all of business history.

"Nah, keep you £35 per month, take our £15per month package, you'll be fine, the fact you are asking for faster speeds obviously means you know nothing about BB usage and future needs. Jeez, you gotta laugh, you must have read that faster BB is the future, stick with the copper, you won't notice the buffering after a while"

FFS.

Shareholders sat quietly happy about this?

[neil]

Manchester 'not that well-placed' as digital hub
24th October 2012

MANCHESTER is aspiring to become a world leading "tech city" by 2025 but consultants hired to help set out the city's digital strategy concede it will be a significant challenge.

A report prepared by the London-based consultancy Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates ahead of a meeting of the council's executive today says the city is currently "not that well-placed" globally.

It says the digital sphere is crowded and highly competitive with significant investment by both leading digital cities such as New York and Soeul and emerging hubs like Doha and Moscow.

"In order to be realistic about Manchester's prospects," says the report, "an appropriate peer group of genuine comparators - mostly found in Europe, namely Barcelona, Amsterdam and Berlin - must be considered."

But even some of these cities, states the report, are investing "more than one hundred times the much-lauded sum of £12m (awarded via the Urban Broadband Fund) with which Manchester hopes to narrow the gap on the most connected cities."

According to the council the digital and creative media sector employs 25,000 people in Greater Manchester, 5% of the workforce. It believes 40,000 new jobs can be created in the sector by 2015.

With a lack of cash, Manchester is focusing on nurturing its own "unique ecosystem" as the blueprint for further growth. The Sharp Project in east Manchester, home to around 50 digital and creative firms, is at the heart of this plan.

Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates says the city must become "more adept at harnessing the existing public and private sector support", retaining skilled talent and driving sustainable innovation.

"And it must overcome a cultural tendency towards self-deprecation in order to promote the genuine success it has achieved historically, and in the recent past, in order to continue supporting the growth and proliferation of start-up businesses, and attract talented individuals and exciting projects to the region."

[WingTips]

Oh dear oh dear..

[LNGCats]

A dose a reality that is often missing on these forums

[VDB]

Morning all. I'm okay with this, wasn't it Barclays who sponsor(ed) Borris Bikes in London?

Barclays named as TechHub Manchester major sponsor

Barclays has been named as the first major sponsor of TechHub Manchester, a new venture for internet technology start-ups.

TechHub will open next month across two floors of Town Centre Securities' Carver's Warehouse on Dale Street in the Piccadilly Basin.

It will provide workspace on a permanent and drop-in basis.

Manchester will be the third TechHub, following launches in London and Riga, the capital of Latvia.

Barclays' Graham Bastin said: “There are many entrepreneurs and start-ups with great ideas and ambitions about the future of digital and mobile technology. They will benefit from access to space, infrastructure and support as we help the next generation of technological innovators to fulfil their potential.

“This is an exciting opportunity for businesses to grow and reflects Barclays' commitment to support innovation and talent.”

[Fortun3]

There's some great news for those of us who live on The Quays (mainly those in NV buildings and City Lofts): Openreach are finally upgrading our cabinet!! So Infinity should be with us in the next month or two. :-D

(Apologies for sounding like an excited child- we've lived here four years and in that time the broadband has gone from atrocious (<1.5mbps) to seriously below par (<3mbps) so it'll be nice when 40-80mbps finally gets us out of the doldrums!)

[WingTips]

Originally Posted by Fortun3

There's some great news for those of us who live on The Quays (mainly those in NV buildings and City Lofts): Openreach are finally upgrading our cabinet!! So Infinity should be with us in the next month or two. :-D

(Apologies for sounding like an excited child- we've lived here four years and in that time the broadband has gone from atrocious (<1.5mbps) to seriously below par (<3mbps) so it'll be nice when 40-80mbps finally gets us out of the doldrums!)

This is interesting because form what information I can clean Openreach have been very slow in upgrading large apartment blocks.. keep us informed Fortun

[Fortun3]

Indeed, maybe they're bringing fibre straight in? Who knows. If the SSC app let me post photos I could show you what the concrete base looks like now its installed. No sign of a cabinet yet but give it a few weeks.

[petewright]

well there seems to be a cabinet outside NV Building now! But.. it doesn't look like a normal infinity/fibre cabinet? :/. It does however say BT openreach on the sign next to it. Does anyone know if this is infinity or not? It's as tall as the normal one but about half the width of a normal box.

[WingTips]

Originally Posted by petewright

well there seems to be a cabinet outside NV Building now! But.. it doesn't look like a normal infinity/fibre cabinet? :/. It does however say BT openreach on the sign next to it. Does anyone know if this is infinity or not? It's as tall as the normal one but about half the width of a normal box.

Yes I think it is...they are only half the width of the original cabs.

[WingTips]

Are you up to Speed???....

The latest summary of anecdotal consumer broadband ISP speed testing data, which covers the previous month of October 2012, reveals that the average download speed has risen from 17Mbps (Megabits per second) to 18.038Mbps. Average upload speeds have similarly jumped from 1.976Mbps to 2.174Mbps over the same period.

According to Broadband.co.uk, the fastest ISP for internet download speed remains Virgin Media with an impressive result of 33.430Mbps (up from 32.935Mbps last month). Meanwhile Eclipse Internet has stolen Virgin’s crown for the fastest upload speeds (3.321Mbps, up from 2.371Mbps last month). BT saw an almost identical jump in upstream performance and now sits just behind Eclipse.

Top 8 UK ISPs – Download Speed (Megabits/sec)1. Virgin Media – 33.430Mbps
2. Eclipse Internet – 17.307Mbps
3. BT – 14.403Mbps
4. PlusNet – 12.583Mbps
5. O2 (BE Broadband) – 7.333Mbps
6. Sky Broadband – 7.303Mbps
7. TalkTalk / Tiscali – 5.806Mbps
8. EE (formerly Orange UK) – 4.497Mbps

Top 8 UK ISPs – Upload Speed (Megabits/sec)1. Eclipse Internet – 3.321Mbps
2. BT – 3.264Mbps
3. Virgin Media – 2.646Mbps
4. PlusNet – 2.575Mbps
5. O2 (BE Broadband) – 0.895Mbps
6. Sky Broadband – 0.806Mbps
7. TalkTalk / Tiscali – 0.797Mbps
8. EE (formerly Orange UK) – 0.577Mbps

It’s interesting to note that the gap between the mature superfast broadband haves and the have nots (i.e. those ISPs still stuck on slower ADSL2+ technology) continues to widen, with the top four appearing to pull away from the pack. But faster speeds also tend to have a disproportionate effect as fewer customers will have a bigger impact on the overall average vs older and significantly slower services.

Sky Broadband and TalkTalk also have superfast services, although they’re younger and have so far failed to attract a sizeable portion of customers. Meanwhile EE (Orange UK) has only just launched its superfast service and thus the failings of their old fixed line network are still quite apparent. O2 (BE Broadband) are now left as the only big ISP without the latest generation of connectivity and it’s not even clear if this will change in 2013 (here).

As usual readers should take anecdotal data like this with a big pinch of salt. Every home is different and performance can be affected by all sorts of issues, many of which are beyond the ISPs ability to control. We do not consider the above data to be a reliable barometer for individual users but it can be used to highlight other changes in the market. In addition, the table does not include smaller ISPs because they simply don’t produce enough data for an effective comparison.

Readers should also check out Ofcoms latest August 2012 Broadband ISP Speeds Study because it contains a lot of useful information about the country’s internet connectivity performance across different ISPs and technology types.

http://www.newsnow.co.uk

I would love to know where all these LUCKY folks are thats receive some of these mega speeds..

[pmpt]

3. BT – 14.403Mbps

exchange quay avg 14.5-16.5Mbps

[WingTips]

Originally Posted by pmpt

3. BT – 14.403Mbps

exchange quay avg 14.5-16.5Mbps

What exchange are you served by?

[future.architect]

Originally Posted by future.architect

I have now grown accustomed to my mega fast internet. Normal broadband seems too slow these days.

[High-Fi]

Unfortunately Droylsden is still a third world town.

[VDB]

Is this good? Bad? Idk

[WingTips]

Originally Posted by VDB

Is this good? Bad? Idk

Tis

[NQ Lee]

I am at Media City. This is fine for me. I have the option of buying a 100mb boost for 24 hours if I need it.