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Birmingham City Council Aims for Full Fibre Coverage
Birmingham City Council approves plans for a full fibre service that will provide better digital coverage, faster speeds, and lower costs.
01:20 09 March 2023
Birmingham City Council has approved the proposal for a brand new full-fibre digital network to provide better digital coverage to businesses in the area as quickly as possible. The programme will target underserved areas of the city ensuring that any business located in Birmingham will have access to high levels of connectivity they need to develop and innovate their products and services.
The programme complements the first Open Access agreements which allow the use of council lampposts to host so-called 'small cells' to better address user needs. The council has signed the first contacts that will speed up access to the city assets, resulting in faster deployment of 5G across the city.
Councillor Jayne Francis, Cabinet Member for Digital, Culture, Heritage and Tourism, said: “We saw during the pandemic how businesses innovated and developed new digital services to deliver their products and services. Providing them with access to full fibre connectivity will enable them to continue to innovative and increase their sustainable economic growth opportunities through increased business productivity.
“This became apparent when we consulted with businesses and stakeholders. It will deliver both faster speeds and lower costs, which in turn will support access to a wider range of services for residents, especially for housebound and deprived households as well as businesses.
“We welcome the current digital investments being made by the commercial sector, but we recognise that we need more pace and urgency to ensure our businesses have access to the best possible infrastructure, enabling them to innovate and retain their competitive advantage.”