Fibrestream exec backs Hull as fibre optic broadband hub

A Fibrestream director has backed Hull to become a hub for fibre-optic broadband in the UK.

Simon Davison was part of a meeting in which telecoms industry figures discussed the opportunities, issues and misconceptions about web connections in the Yorkshire city, reports the East Riding Mail.

Hull has a number of factors in its favour for becoming a super-fast broadband hub, Mr Davison claimed, among which is its position on the north-east coast, in close proximity to a huge pipe in the North Sea that carries around one-third of the world's data.

Furthermore, the underground electrical infrastructure created by the city's trawling industry could be hooked up to "server farms" that would provide power for the broadband.

Managing director of Fibrestream Guy Jarvis added: "What we need is real sunrise industries to bring new jobs here and this could really help us to achieve that."

Nick Thompson, director of consumer services at KC - the incumbent telecoms provider in Hull - has previously criticised the UK's broadband speeds and branded the government's plans for the technology as "unambitious".