THOUSANDS of families across Greater Manchester will have access to super-fast broadband internet by next summer, it has been claimed.

BT bosses say plans to install high-speed fibre cables are 'well under way'.

And they say they expect to have 314,000 homes and businesses online with top speeds in Greater Manchester within 12 months.

The claim comes after the MEN published details of a report by Ofcom which said no broadband customers are receiving top download speeds by their internet service providers (ISPs).

Currently in Greater Manchester, households receive broadband either from Virgin Media cable or from one of the many internet service providers which use the BT network.

Virgin Media advertise speeds of up to 50 megabytes per second (Mb/s), while BT's current infrastructure allows a maximum speed of 8 Mb/s.

Mike Blackburn, BT's regional director, said: "Super-fast broadband is essential to this region's future. Once again, the north west is at the forefront of one of the most important projects to take place in recent years.

"It will play a vital role in the UK's future as a knowledge-based economy.

"The wider industry will now be able to plan ahead as we will be making our services available on a wholesale basis. This approach will benefit customers as there will undoubtedly be fierce competition for their business."

Half of broadband users are on packages that offer speeds of `up to' 8 Mb/s.

But research by Ofcom found they received an average speed of 3.9 Mb/s, less than half of the advertised speed.

BT says exchanges in Altrincham, Ashton-under-Lyne Cheetham Hill, Chorlton, Denton, Hyde, east Manchester, Moss Side, Prestwich, Stalybridge, Swinton, Urmston, Walkden and Wilmslow will be among the first in Greater Manchester to be upgraded next year as part of the £1.5b project.

Households in Bury, Didsbury, Failsworth, Heaton Moor, Oldham and Rusholme will also reap the benefits.

It says speeds of up to 40Mb/s will be available at first, with the prospect of them rising to 60Mb/s.

Ofcom said it was impossible for customers to currently receive the so-called `headline speed' of 8 Mb/s, because some capacity is reserved for technical reasons.

Speed

It said the highest speed a customer on an 8 Mb/s package could receive in practice is around 7.2 Mb/s.

Ed Richards, Ofcom's chief executive, said: "This considerable survey gives consumers important information about broadband speeds.

"We hope it will be a spur to competition and further investment by the internet providers in their networks."

A Virgin Media spokeswoman said: "The report emphatically demonstrates that the `up to' marketing claims of most copper-based broadband providers are not to be trusted, with most major Internet Service Providers delivering less than half of what they promise.

"Virgin Media delivers more than any other major ISP - even our cheapest broadband tier delivers double the average of our major competitors - and we are committed to making all of our marketing better reflect the actual experience our customers get."

Alex Salter, chairman of SamKnows, the company which carried out the research for Ofcom, says the big issue now is whether providers should be forced to devise a better way of advertising what is on offer.

He said: "Greater Manchester is typical of the major conurbations in that it has a real combination of really super-fast access areas and lower access areas."

Mr Salter said broadband services have so far been introduced on an entirely commercial basis, meaning people in less affluent areas have perhaps been left behind.