£48 million has been pledged to improve broadband speeds for businesses in Northern Ireland. After winning a competitive tender, BT is investing £30 million in the project. The remainder is coming from the European Regional Development Fund’s Sustainable Competitiveness Programme and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development programme.
The project, which is due to be completed by May 2011, will see upgrades to 166 existing exchanges and should see broadband speeds of 10 Mbps and possibly as high as 40 Mbps in urban areas, and 2 Mbps in rural areas. There have been many complaints that the rural service has been far inferior to that available in towns and cities.
The deployment of fibre-optic cables will be a major factor in the improvement scheme. In fact there are few, if any, parts of the UK that will have a similar amount of fibre-optic infrastructure. The Chief Executive of BT, Ian Livingston, called the move a ‘bold and visionary step’ with fibre-based broadband underpinning future economic growth.
The Minister for Enterprise, Arlene Foster, said that the scheme was hugely significant and that the multi-million pound injection in the infrastructure had the potential to create up to 1000 jobs per annum. The project is part of the Northern Ireland Executive’s commitment that 85% of businesses have access to high-speed internet by 2011.
The investment is expected to boost the entire rural community in Northern Ireland. The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Michelle Gildernew, said that broadband was ‘increasingly an important means of ensuring social inclusion’ and that the project would be warmly welcomed by farmers and rural dwellers.
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