Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC

) and Mobile UK, the trade body for the UK’s mobile network operators (MNOs), have announced a new partnership to promote essential mobile infrastructure deployment across the Greater Manchester region.

As part of the new agreement, GMCC and Mobile UK will seek to work in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership and other interested parties. Together, they will highlight business requirements for mobile connectivity in the region and promote understanding of the barriers to mobile infrastructure deployment faced by the MNOs.

Advocating for digital skills and training for individuals and businesses will also form part of the agreement. This would allow people living and working in Manchester to fully exploit the opportunities provided by new technological advances and make sure they can take full advantage of world-class digital connectivity.

The announcement follows a meeting between Chamber members and MNOs earlier this week.  The agreement is the latest development as part of Mobile UK’s Building Mobile Britain campaign, which has seen the organisation engage with national and local decision-makers, as well as interested industry groups, in a bid to overcome the challenges MNOs face with expanding the existing mobile networks.

Hamish MacLeod, Director at Mobile UK, said:

“Mobile connectivity is critical to driving local economic growth and business productivity, and yet we continue to face challenges when seeking to install new and improved mobile infrastructure.

“The mobile operators are committed to improving the UK’s mobile infrastructure and we are very pleased to be working alongside the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce to achieve our shared ambitions of making mobile infrastructure deployment simpler and easier to enable better coverage.”

Chris Fletcher, Marketing & Campaigns Director at GMCC, said:

“As a leading digital hub in the UK, having access to world-class mobile connectivity in Greater Manchester has become increasingly important as businesses become ever more mobile.

“At GMCC, we are very much looking forward to working with Mobile UK to ensure Greater Manchester has the right environment to encourage digital infrastructure investment. It is important for city and wider region to have the digital infrastructure it requires to keep up with demand, and that businesses and individuals living in the area have the digital skills and training they need to harness the benefits of innovation.