BT And Eight Local Councils Team Up For £15m BDUK Manchester Deal

BT is to extend superfast broadband coverage to a further 39,000 homes and businesses in non-commercial areas of Greater Manchester by March 2016, thanks to government funding from the BDUK project, eight local councils and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Councils in Stockport, Bolton, Wigan, Bury, Tameside, Oldham, Trafford and Rochdale will fund £2.5 million of the £15 million project, with the ERDF providing £5 million, BDUK £3m and BT picking up the remaining £4.6 million bill.

The BT Openreach network already reaches 900,000 premises in the area and is set to reach one million by the end of Spring next year, and the telco will work with local authorities to provide fibre to key areas of town centres and business districts.

BDUK Manchester

“We want to see Greater Manchester become one of the world’s top digital cities by 2020.The eight local authority areas, with their active local business communities, will play a crucial role in this,” says Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive of Stockport Council, lead local authority for the project.

The partners say businesses will be able to deploy new cloud-based services and the benefit to the local economy could be worth as much as £80 million, with 500 new jobs created.

“Access to fast and reliable broadband is becoming increasingly important for homes and businesses,” adds Boylan. “These proposals would ensure local businesses can make the most of digital technology – boosting the local economy, generating growth, creating jobs and attracting further investment.”

BT has so far won all the money available from BDUK, leading to criticisms that it is effectively handing the former state-owned telecom a government subsidy. MPs have accused the company of blackmail, while others suggest BT has been overcharging for its services.

Outgoing Openreach CEO Liv Garfield says last month it was “massively frustrating” to continue to have to defend the firm’s involvement with BDUK, claiming the government-funded initiative is beginning to bear fruit for those on slow broadband connections.

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