Bolton has been ranked among the top 10 digital towns and cities in the country.

Perhaps the surprising inclusion of the group - which contains a top two of Edinburgh and London – Bolton sits  in ninth place.

Research took a variety of categories into consideration, including broadband internet speed, 5G connectivity and availability, population data, and the number of digital jobs in the area.

The borough’s inclusion on the list is predominantly down to its internet speeds. It has the fifth best download speed and the seventh fastest upload speed - 134.1Mbps and 25.7Mbps respectively.

Bolton was also joined in the top 10 by neighbours Salford, who placed fifth and for whom Media City’s influence on the digital jobs per person section of the criteria did much of the heavy lifting.

Manchester was found to be fourth overall.

Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Martyn Cox,  says he is pleased that council’s work creating a digital friendly town is being recognised and says that this can only be a good thing for the area.

He said: “Digital connectivity is essential and is one of the building blocks of bringing businesses to the borough.

“Given that Bolton is one of the best connected towns, I certainly welcome this report.

“It’s the ambition of everyone in Bolton to see more better paid jobs. That also depends on having a more well educated and well-trained workforce.

“It’s Bolton Council’s ambition to attract as many of these jobs as possible.”

With both Manchester and Salford also making up the top ten, as well as Wigan and Oldham’s internet speeds being mentioned in the report, Cllr Cox was keen to point out that this is beneficial to Bolton too.

He added: “Greater Manchester as a whole is now benefitting from a great deal of inward investment which is providing more well-paid jobs. This is good for Bolton and good for the region as well.

“Greater Manchester is receiving one of the highest per capita inward investment in the country. Companies are coming from overseas in great numbers which is great for the region.”

The research was carried out by domains and hosting provider Fasthosts

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