Liverpool businesses to benefit from £1m digital infrastructure

The Technology Strategy Board will contribute £350,000 to new high-speed network

The city of Liverpool is set to benefit from a £1m project that aims to get businesses connected to a high-speed fibre network called FibreNet.

Datacentre and application development services company AIMES Grid Services will be leading the project.

FibreNet will connect Liverpool City Council's existing dark fibre cable with Global Crossing's and Virgin Media Business' networks.

The connection will provide businesses with up to 1Gbit/s internet bandwidth.

The project aims to reach all the city's major commercial areas, including the business district, the health and technology parks, and Liverpool Science Park.

The announcement comes after Liverpool was awarded £350,000 by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), which is part of a total of £2m granted to create five "open network services demonstrators".

Liverpool has been selected as one of these so-called national hotspots, where businesses can test business models, and applications and services can be supported by advanced network services.

"Liverpool will become a high-fibre-connected city, not only enabling local businesses to benefit, but also attracting the trialling of new services, making Liverpool a digital destination," said professor Dennis Kehoe, AIMES chief executive.

"We will be able to compete with Manchester and on a national level."