Bristol has submitted a £22m bid for Government cash to become a world-class super-connected city, offering broadband speeds and wi-fi connectivity on a par with the best cities around the world.
If successful, the bid will be matched by £22m of investment from major telecoms providers and will give the city’s creative industries a significant boost.
The initiative, dubbed Gigabit Bristol, is centred on a large, central sector of the city comprising Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone, Harbourside and the University.
This 400-hectare area includes 5,000 businesses, 5,000 university students, 5,000 social housing tenants and has 7m people passing through every year.
The council also wants to extend wi-fi coverage both in the gigabit zone and across the city as a whole, providing open access wi-fi to approximately 80% of the city’s public spaces.
It will work with telecoms providers to build on the existing 650 hot-spot B-Open network which is already available to university staff, students and members of the public.
An Ultrafast Demonstration Studio at Temple Meads is also proposed. This will give business and consumers the opportunity to experience next generation broadband enabled services such as High Definition Video Conferencing.
Council leader Barbara Janke described the initiative as key to maintaining and growing Bristol’s world-class knowledge economy.
She said: “We want Bristol’s businesses and communities to benefit from the very best digital infrastructure, to put us on a level with world-class connected cities such as Singapore.
“The creative industries in Bristol employ around 9,000 people, making up 12% of all businesses in the city including Aardman Animations, BBC’s Natural History Unit, Endemol West and many other independent film and production companies.
“We have a clear vision to increase the size and impact of these types of businesses – our newly established Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone is testament to this ambition. Our bid is very strong and we have the ambition, knowledge and skills to make this project a success.”
The Government cash was put up for grabs in December by Culture, Media and Sport Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt when he launched a £100m Urban Broadband Fund with the aim of helping up to 10 UK cities to provide a showcase delivering “Singaporean levels of broadband connectivity” to businesses and consumers.
The Government has already said that the four capitals – London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast – will benefit while the other cities will be chosen through a competition. The other bid winners are expected to be announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in next month’s Budget.
