Broadband Britain success story: Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council is providing subsidised broadband services to help regenerate the East Manchester district.

The Eastserve scheme provides low-cost wireless internet access to 150 of the area's homes, and could support as many as 5000 users by early summer.

The project started in April last year, and now includes a 5.7Ghz backbone connecting 17 schools, eight UK Online centres and 10 public access points in places such as libraries, using 802.11b wireless connections.

Nine antennae feed connectivity to local homes but there are plans for 50 nodes by April.

The council pays for installation of receiving equipment in local homes and residents pay a monthly rate with free access to email and some sites such as the council and UK Online. The service costs £6 for daytime weekday access, and £24 for a round-the-clock service.

Broadband is an enabler for regeneration, says Eastserve director Andy McBeath.

'The technology itself does not drive it, but connecting up schools, UK Online centres and so on means residents can access training materials. We are also wiring up new houses so they become appealing to people moving into the area. It is part of a plan to stop people leaving the area and also make it attractive for people to move in and businesses to invest,' said McBeath.

Local demand is high, he says.

'We are trying to rein back as much as possible because everyone wants it. We are trying to lower expectations about the timescale because though we have the backbone in place, it's still a big job,' said McBeath.

The scheme will need 2,500 users to generate a sustainable revenue.

Consultants Clicks and Links and suppliers Gaia Technologies and Yourtelecom are involved with the project.