Let’s sort out snail-pace internet link

FIRMS at a business park hampered by slow internet connections are to meet Oldham Council’s deputy leader to discuss who will pay for a better link.

Companies at Salmon Fields Business Village will meet Councillor Shoab Akhtar, cabinet member for business, next week.

Offices on the site - on the north side of Salmon Fields Road - have the latest fibre cables fitted internally but the link to a local telephone exchange is old-style copper, resulting in internet speeds too low for several businesses on the site.

British Telecom (BT) is upgrading capacity but won’t get round to Salmon Fields until the end of next year.

Businesses want a solution without extra cost as soon as possible — claiming they aren’t getting the speeds they pay for. Solutions proposed would all involve extra cost.

Luke Vernon, managing director of Salmon Fields-based VSM Healthcare, told the Chronicle: “Since our last meeting in February we have spoken to a number of service providers. We have had lots of interest from internet providers and will be telling the council a link is feasible. The question is who is going to pay for it?

“This is a business village the council helped to create. By contributing £10,000 towards putting a cable into the village, the council could attract more businesses.

“Businesses have been paying for internet services at 20mb a second but we actually get speeds of 1mb a second. Achieving a moderate speed of 10mb would be a big step forward.

Mr Vernon emphasised the close proximity of good connections saying: “I recently walked to the Shaw-end of Salmon Fields Road where there is a BT cabinet with fibre cabling. It’s just a two-minute walk from us — it’s not the other side of the moon.”