1001 Smart Cities
🇬🇧 Manchester

Greater Manchester's Shared Public-Sector Fibre and the GM One Network

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 27 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

27 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

Greater Manchester laid about 2,700 km of fibre to public buildings and traffic signals and pooled it into one network. It doesn't own the cable, and Manchester's own council isn't on it.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence📊 Independent
what does this mean?The strongest source is an independent non-academic evaluation: an audit office, a government or EU review, or an NGO. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byGreater Manchester Combined Authority (lead contracting authority) with TfGM, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport councils; fibre owned and managed by Virgin Media O2 (Virgin Media Business); GM One built and operated by Cisco
Scale🗺️ Regional
Funding£23.8 million LFFN project including £18.8m of national LFFN funding (DCMS), with capital from GMCA (fire and rescue), TfGM and seven councils buying 30-year rights of use; GM One Network (up to £22.54M over ten years) self-funded by its partners. Manchester City Council: £835,000 DCMS building-upgrade grant.

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,216 documented projects · 🏙️ 8 more in Manchester · 📶 Connectivity & 5G guide · 📡 Data & IoT projects

Greater Manchester's Local Full Fibre Network is a public-sector fibre backbone that Virgin Media Business, appointed in March 2020, built by 2022: roughly 2,700 km of cable linking around 1,600 sites, from council offices, schools and libraries to roadside cabinets at traffic signals. The £23.8 million project was the largest funded in the national LFFN programme. The public partners do not own the fibre; they bought 30-year rights to use it, and the supplier owns and manages the cable. Since late 2024 the GM One Network, built and operated by Cisco under a collaboration agreement led by GMCA, has lit it for TfGM, the fire service and four councils. In Manchester the procurement covered TfGM's traffic-control assets, but the city council, whose area already had fibre networks, took a £5,000-per-site building-upgrade grant for 167 sites instead and is not a GM One partner.

Live 📅 since 2020

📊 Impact

What followed shows most clearly on the roads. TfGM told the government's evaluators that about 95% of signal junctions are connected, and that with fibre at more than 700 signalised junctions it has grown its highway CCTV from around 80 cameras to more than 200 without a new roadside connection for each; it also reported a "dramatic reduction" in network faults. On money, GMCA's 2022 business case forecast savings of £3.7M against existing spend, and its October 2024 update counted £6.6M of savings or avoided cost over ten years; for the fire service the 2022 paper itself called the saving modest, up to £5.67M over ten years against £6.00M. The evaluation found that none of its interviewees could robustly estimate the savings; Stockport Council put its own at "hundreds of thousands of pounds annually". These are the partners' own figures, not a measured result.

🎓 Lesson

A grant can pay for fibre but not for using it: Greater Manchester's DCMS grant obliged the partners to light the cable, and the savings they report come from the second, self-funded step of doing that together through GM One. Holding rights of use rather than the cable has a cost the evaluation names: extending the network means asking the commercial owner for a price, which it contrasts with publicly owned networks in Colchester, the North Isles and North Yorkshire. And a regional network reaches only the partners who join: the region's core city, with its own wide-area network contract, is not on it.

📡 Data & IoTConnectivity & 5GTraffic management

Sources

↗ Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)Case study in the national LFFN evaluation, conducted for BDUK and DCMS by GC Insight, Belmana and Darren Kilburn, based on five stakeholder interviews. States that the £23.8 million project, including £18.8m of LFFN funding, was the largest funded in the programme; that Virgin Media Business laid approximately 2,700 km of fibre to around 1,600 sites with all work completed by 2022; that Cisco built and operates GM One, completed in late 2024; that the founding partners are GMCA, TfGM and Stockport, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale councils; that the LFFN fibre is owned and managed by a commercial supplier; that about 95% of signal junctions are connected and TfGM's CCTV grew from around 80 to more than 200 cameras; and that no interviewee could robustly estimate the savings.
↗ Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester Local Full Fibre Network Programme, Part A report (7 Jan 2020)GMCA report on the tender outcome. States that public sector partners get 30 years of connectivity instead of 20 for the same cost through 50% longer Indefeasible Rights of Use; that the provider will deliver up to 2,717 km of new full fibre with 97% provided via existing ducting and an estimated 9 km of new dig; and that public services will be free to procure services from any provider across the open access network.
↗ Greater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN Programme: Public Sector Building Upgrade (18 Dec 2020)GMCA report on the Public Sector Building Upgrade element. Names the seven anchor-tenancy councils (Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Trafford, Wigan); states that Manchester City Council, where there were already considerable fibre networks, would receive a flat-rate grant of £5,000 per eligible site, proposing 167 sites with £835,000 of DCMS grant, procured by the council itself as part of a wider strategic ICT procurement and a longer-term WAN contract.
↗ Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester One Network Procurement, Part A report (25 Mar 2022)GMCA report seeking approval for GM One Network. Sets out the joint procurement by GMCA (including fire and rescue), TfGM and Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport councils; Cisco as preferred integrator; a 10-year cost of up to £22.54M; that the DCMS grant requires the fibre to be used; savings of £3.7M against current spend; the fire service's cost of up to £5.67M over ten years against £6.00M, described as 'only a modest saving'; connecting 775 urban traffic control signal sites; and that related fibre work led by Manchester City Council was connecting 130 further sites.
↗ Greater Manchester Combined Authority — GM One Network Connectivity Partner Procurement (25 Oct 2024)GMCA report on extending GM One Network to sites not on the LFFN. States that LFFN provides fibre connections to c.1,600 sites until 2050, supported by Virgin Media O2; that c.1,200 sites have migrated to GM One across six organisations (four localities plus GMCA and TfGM); £6.6M of savings or avoided alternative cost over a 10-year period; and a £2M connectivity contract with Vodafone.
Show 2 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Greater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN programme report to the Corporate Issues and Reform Overview & Scrutiny Committee (15 Oct 2019)GMCA report on the LFFN programme. Records the £23.7M DCMS award of March 2018 to connect over 1,300 public sector sites; the three elements of the bid (anchor tenancy, a tactical public sector building upgrade for Manchester City Council 'where there was already considerable fibre networks and risk of overbuild', and the Tameside cooperative); that the Southern Arc lot covered GMCA/TfGM urban traffic control and assets in Stockport, Trafford, Salford and Manchester; full-fibre coverage by borough in September 2019 (Manchester 10.92%); and the £835,000 grant allocation to Manchester City Council.
↗ ISPreview — Virgin Media Scoop £24m Greater Manchester Full Fibre Project (16 Mar 2020)Trade-press report of GMCA's appointment of Virgin Media to deliver the LFFN project: up to 2,700 km of fibre to serve 1,700 public sector sites, new connections in Bury, Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Trafford and Wigan, and more than 180 public sites in Salford and Manchester to see their connectivity upgraded.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2020. 7 of 7 sources carry a publication date, from 15 October 2019 to 10 September 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority · regional governmentGreater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN programme report to the Corporate Issues and Reform Overview & Scrutiny Committee (15 Oct 2019)
  2. Greater Manchester Combined Authority · regional governmentGreater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester Local Full Fibre Network Programme, Part A report (7 Jan 2020)
  3. ISPreview · pressISPreview — Virgin Media Scoop £24m Greater Manchester Full Fibre Project (16 Mar 2020)
  4. Greater Manchester Combined Authority · regional governmentGreater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN Programme: Public Sector Building Upgrade (18 Dec 2020)
  5. Greater Manchester Combined Authority · regional governmentGreater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester One Network Procurement, Part A report (25 Mar 2022)
  6. Greater Manchester Combined Authority · regional governmentGreater Manchester Combined Authority — GM One Network Connectivity Partner Procurement (25 Oct 2024)
  7. UK Government (GOV.UK) · national governmentBuilding Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 27 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 27 addressable claims, 7 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 27

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-66d896bda2c28f66 quantitative
Virgin Media Business, appointed in March 2020
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
ISPreview reported on 16 March 2020 that GMCA had chosen Virgin Media's business division to deliver the LFFN project.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. ISPreview — Virgin Media Scoop £24m Greater Manchester Full Fibre Project (16 Mar 2020)
Claim 2 clm-51b6596548ea312a quantitative
built by 2022
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The national evaluation states that Virgin Media Business designed and built the network, with all work completed by 2022.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 3 clm-d37c0c86e7e93b9f quantitative
roughly 2,700 km of cable linking around 1,600 sites
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation reports approximately 2,700 km of new fibre-optic cable creating a dark-fibre network that connected around 1,600 sites.
Caveat
The site count moved during the programme: the 2018 bid aimed at over 1,300 sites, the 2020 appointment at 1,700, later releases at more than 1,500.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 4 clm-b73f5bbea2e183d5 descriptive
from council offices, schools and libraries to roadside cabinets at traffic signals
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation lists council offices, schools, libraries, community buildings and children's centres alongside unmanned sites such as roadside cabinets, and reports that about 95% of signal junctions are connected.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 5 clm-4ce8fdce90d3f44a quantitative
The £23.8 million project was the largest funded in the national LFFN programme
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation gives a total project value of £23.8 million, including £18.8m of LFFN programme funding, making it the largest funded project in the programme.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 6 clm-9a88eef61ac17bc7 quantitative
they bought 30-year rights to use it
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
GMCA's January 2020 report says partners get 30 years of connectivity through Indefeasible Rights of Use for the cost originally calculated on 20 years; the October 2024 report says the fibre connections run until 2050.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester Local Full Fibre Network Programme, Part A report (7 Jan 2020)
  2. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — GM One Network Connectivity Partner Procurement (25 Oct 2024)
Claim 7 clm-834954cb2e81925c descriptive
the supplier owns and manages the cable
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation states that in Greater Manchester the LFFN fibre is owned and managed by a commercial supplier.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 8 clm-098f7439617f350e quantitative
Since late 2024 the GM One Network, built and operated by Cisco
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation states that Cisco was awarded the contract to build and operate GM One and that the build was completed in late 2024.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 9 clm-79b811eff81931bf descriptive
under a collaboration agreement led by GMCA
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation says GM One is owned collectively by the participating organisations under a formal collaboration agreement, with GMCA as lead contracting authority.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 10 clm-b71c3ce0ea0f0abd descriptive
has lit it for TfGM, the fire service and four councils
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation lists the founding partners as of January 2026; the 2022 GMCA report describes GM One as the joint service to light the LFFN fibre for these partners.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
  2. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester One Network Procurement, Part A report (25 Mar 2022)
Claim 11 clm-3863e2ed5ac29c77 descriptive
In Manchester the procurement covered TfGM's traffic-control assets
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
GMCA's 2019 report says the Southern Arc lot covered GMCA/TfGM urban traffic control and assets in Stockport and Trafford as well as in the Salford and Manchester local authority areas.
Caveat
This is the procurement scope; no source gives a count of connected signal sites inside the City of Manchester.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN programme report to the Corporate Issues and Reform Overview & Scrutiny Committee (15 Oct 2019)
Claim 12 clm-fd8294862ba54aaa descriptive
the city council, whose area already had fibre networks
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
GMCA's December 2020 report describes the Manchester element as a tactical upgrade for a council area where there was already considerable fibre and a risk of overbuild.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN Programme: Public Sector Building Upgrade (18 Dec 2020)
Claim 13 clm-98f4189b4e200560 quantitative
took a £5,000-per-site building-upgrade grant for 167 sites instead
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The December 2020 report states a flat-rate grant of £5,000 per eligible site and that Manchester City Council proposed 167 sites using £835,000 of the DCMS grant.
Caveat
In March 2022 GMCA reported this council-led work as due to complete shortly, connecting 130 sites.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN Programme: Public Sector Building Upgrade (18 Dec 2020)
Claim 14 clm-1621b40b01b5444c descriptive
is not a GM One partner
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation lists the four member councils and states that the other districts are not yet connected.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 15 clm-43aed29345f48909 quantitative
about 95% of signal junctions are connected
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation reports a TfGM interviewee's statement that approximately 95% of signal junctions are connected to LFFN.
Caveat
An interviewee's statement for the whole region, not a published count.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 16 clm-ad3a0529706056b9 quantitative
with fibre at more than 700 signalised junctions it has grown its highway CCTV from around 80 cameras to more than 200
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation reports that TfGM had around 80 highway cameras before LFFN, that fibre is now available at more than 700 signalised junctions, and that the CCTV estate has grown to more than 200 cameras.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 17 clm-820e914a430161c8 descriptive
it also reported a "dramatic reduction" in network faults
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation quotes TfGM reporting a dramatic reduction in network faults and outages after moving to the shared network; no figure is given.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 18 clm-f6b682a1454c5214 quantitative
GMCA's 2022 business case forecast savings of £3.7M against existing spend
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The March 2022 report lists overall financial savings of £3.7M against current spend levels among the benefits of the procurement.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester One Network Procurement, Part A report (25 Mar 2022)
Claim 19 clm-e8d0933609c0c37b quantitative
its October 2024 update counted £6.6M of savings or avoided cost over ten years
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The October 2024 report states £6.6M of savings or avoided alternative cost over a 10-year period.
Caveat
A ten-year projection by the operator; the report does not state the method.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — GM One Network Connectivity Partner Procurement (25 Oct 2024)
Claim 20 clm-013267591e4c7a3b quantitative
for the fire service the 2022 paper itself called the saving modest, up to £5.67M over ten years against £6.00M
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The March 2022 report puts the fire service's current WAN spend over ten years at £6.00M against up to £5.67M via GM One, and calls this only a modest saving.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester One Network Procurement, Part A report (25 Mar 2022)
Claim 21 clm-a231a27537e03f39 descriptive
none of its interviewees could robustly estimate the savings
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation states that none of the interviewees were able to robustly estimate the scale of savings.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 22 clm-09f266e0266c707a descriptive
Stockport Council put its own at "hundreds of thousands of pounds annually"
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation quotes Stockport Council saying the move to GM One had saved it hundreds of thousands of pounds annually.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 23 clm-52bebed52db5bad8 descriptive
Greater Manchester's DCMS grant obliged the partners to light the cable
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The March 2022 report says GMCA and the participating authorities committed to using the fibre under the grant agreement, and that not lighting it could require repayment of the DCMS funding.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester One Network Procurement, Part A report (25 Mar 2022)
Claim 24 clm-cf3c1f0d69e16b33 descriptive
the savings they report come from the second, self-funded step of doing that together through GM One
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation says GM One received no other central government funding, was self-funded by partners, and attributes the WAN cost savings to consolidation on the shared platform.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 25 clm-5654651cc3ae4d2a descriptive
extending the network means asking the commercial owner for a price
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation reports that because a commercial supplier owns the fibre, extending or adapting the network requires commercial negotiation, the supplier will 'give us a price'.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 26 clm-2723859ed99517c7 descriptive
which it contrasts with publicly owned networks in Colchester, the North Isles and North Yorkshire
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The evaluation contrasts this with models where the public sector directly owns and controls the infrastructure, naming Colchester, North Isles and North Yorkshire.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Claim 27 clm-10b6a5c237773780 descriptive
the region's core city, with its own wide-area network contract, is not on it
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
GMCA's December 2020 report says Manchester City Council procured its upgrade within a wider strategic ICT procurement and a longer-term WAN contract; the evaluation lists GM One's members without Manchester.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Greater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN Programme: Public Sector Building Upgrade (18 Dec 2020)
  2. Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-10-16-baseline effective 2026-10-16 · created 2026-10-16

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:f6173652c4cff2b8927489b75470148f23ad4d598802431e831c59d715a7ec40
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
27
of 27 claims mapped
7
source dossiers
7
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (lead contracting authority) with TfGM, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport councils; fibre owned and managed by Virgin Media O2 (Virgin Media Business); GM One built and operated by Cisco
Actor types
regional-government, city-government, national-government, private
Funding model
mixed
Funding description
£23.8 million LFFN project including £18.8m of national LFFN funding (DCMS), with capital from GMCA (fire and rescue), TfGM and seven councils buying 30-year rights of use; GM One Network (up to £22.54M over ten years) self-funded by its partners. Manchester City Council: £835,000 DCMS building-upgrade grant.
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

7 source dossiers

Building Digital UK / DCMS — Local Full Fibre Networks evaluation, work package three: Greater Manchester PSAT case study (10 Sep 2026) gov.uk · 18 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-ee5ef705b8889149
Publisher
Name not classified · gov.uk
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-09-10
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Case study in the national LFFN evaluation, conducted for BDUK and DCMS by GC Insight, Belmana and Darren Kilburn, based on five stakeholder interviews. States that the £23.8 million project, including £18.8m of LFFN funding, was the largest funded in the programme; that Virgin Media Business laid approximately 2,700 km of fibre to around 1,600 sites with all work completed by 2022; that Cisco built and operates GM One, completed in late 2024; that the founding partners are GMCA, TfGM and Stockport, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale councils; that the LFFN fibre is owned and managed by a commercial supplier; that about 95% of signal junctions are connected and TfGM's CCTV grew from around 80 to more than 200 cameras; and that no interviewee could robustly estimate the savings.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester Local Full Fibre Network Programme, Part A report (7 Jan 2020) democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-dbc132093d19bceb
Publisher
Name not classified · democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2020-01-07
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

GMCA report on the tender outcome. States that public sector partners get 30 years of connectivity instead of 20 for the same cost through 50% longer Indefeasible Rights of Use; that the provider will deliver up to 2,717 km of new full fibre with 97% provided via existing ducting and an estimated 9 km of new dig; and that public services will be free to procure services from any provider across the open access network.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Greater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN Programme: Public Sector Building Upgrade (18 Dec 2020) democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-02555876a30a9ba3
Publisher
Name not classified · democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2020-12-18
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

GMCA report on the Public Sector Building Upgrade element. Names the seven anchor-tenancy councils (Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Trafford, Wigan); states that Manchester City Council, where there were already considerable fibre networks, would receive a flat-rate grant of £5,000 per eligible site, proposing 167 sites with £835,000 of DCMS grant, procured by the council itself as part of a wider strategic ICT procurement and a longer-term WAN contract.

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Greater Manchester Combined Authority — Greater Manchester One Network Procurement, Part A report (25 Mar 2022) democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk · 4 linked claims

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Stable source ID
src-6408c10000e584b4
Publisher
Name not classified · democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2022-03-25
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
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Open the recorded source note

GMCA report seeking approval for GM One Network. Sets out the joint procurement by GMCA (including fire and rescue), TfGM and Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport councils; Cisco as preferred integrator; a 10-year cost of up to £22.54M; that the DCMS grant requires the fibre to be used; savings of £3.7M against current spend; the fire service's cost of up to £5.67M over ten years against £6.00M, described as 'only a modest saving'; connecting 775 urban traffic control signal sites; and that related fibre work led by Manchester City Council was connecting 130 further sites.

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Greater Manchester Combined Authority — GM One Network Connectivity Partner Procurement (25 Oct 2024) democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk · 2 linked claims

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Stable source ID
src-f6415b51c052d4ca
Publisher
Name not classified · democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2024-10-25
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

GMCA report on extending GM One Network to sites not on the LFFN. States that LFFN provides fibre connections to c.1,600 sites until 2050, supported by Virgin Media O2; that c.1,200 sites have migrated to GM One across six organisations (four localities plus GMCA and TfGM); £6.6M of savings or avoided alternative cost over a 10-year period; and a £2M connectivity contract with Vodafone.

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Greater Manchester Combined Authority — LFFN programme report to the Corporate Issues and Reform Overview & Scrutiny Committee (15 Oct 2019) democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk · 1 linked claim

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Stable source ID
src-a3f8d039c8bb49ee
Publisher
Name not classified · democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2019-10-15
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

GMCA report on the LFFN programme. Records the £23.7M DCMS award of March 2018 to connect over 1,300 public sector sites; the three elements of the bid (anchor tenancy, a tactical public sector building upgrade for Manchester City Council 'where there was already considerable fibre networks and risk of overbuild', and the Tameside cooperative); that the Southern Arc lot covered GMCA/TfGM urban traffic control and assets in Stockport, Trafford, Salford and Manchester; full-fibre coverage by borough in September 2019 (Manchester 10.92%); and the £835,000 grant allocation to Manchester City Council.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
ISPreview — Virgin Media Scoop £24m Greater Manchester Full Fibre Project (16 Mar 2020) ispreview.co.uk · 1 linked claim

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Stable source ID
src-aaa88b3859ee02dc
Publisher
Name not classified · ispreview.co.uk
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2020-03-16
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-16
Dossier created
2026-10-16
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Trade-press report of GMCA's appointment of Virgin Media to deliver the LFFN project: up to 2,700 km of fibre to serve 1,700 public sector sites, new connections in Bury, Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Trafford and Wigan, and more than 180 public sites in Salford and Manchester to see their connectivity upgraded.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

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Compare this project

🇬🇧 TfGM Urban Traffic Control: Greater Manchester's Adaptive Signals · Manchester The fibre's main job in Manchester is backhaul for TfGM's traffic signals and highway cameras.

Explore the wider context

🏙️ Urban digital twins compared📖 Adaptive traffic signals📖 ANPR (automatic number-plate recognition)📖 Automated speed enforcement (speed cameras)
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Greater Manchester's Shared Public-Sector Fibre and the GM One Network” — Manchester, United Kingdom. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/greater-manchester-full-fibre-network/ (last verified 2026-10-16). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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