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Broadband coverage 'now NI wide'

dahamsta

Broadband coverage 'now NI wide'

Northern Ireland has become the first region in Europe to have 100% access to high speed internet, according to the government.

The announcement was made by Enterprise Minister Angela Smith on a visit to the MJM Group, a specialist joinery company in Rathfriland, County Down.

Almost £10m of European funding has been invested to make broadband universally available in NI.

"This is a significant achievement for Northern Ireland," she said.

"Every household, business, school and library in Northern Ireland will be able to access broadband regardless of their location."
On Monday, Hugo Wilson, chief executive of the MJM Group, said the availability of broadband in Rathfriland had played an integral part in the expansion of their business.

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eircomtribunal

There's also a mention on TheRegister The full monty, 100 per cent, the lot

So the gov gave a mere 10 million Sterling for 100 per cent broadband coverage, 98.5% of which via dsl, the rest with wireless and satellite (with the minister's promise to improve on that figure).

Why can a similar deal not be done here?
(Oh, yes I forgot, Eircom was offered a billion or so deal and did not take it. – Pressing money out of people for € 3 per hour dial-up, in the process fecking up the future of the whole country, is a much sweeter option.) And as long as the loonies in ComReg and DCMNR do not notice and act this process can go on and on and on...

P.

Sponge Bob

27 % of households and a higher proportion of businesses in NI already have BB

(evening business news RTE 6.50pm)

BrianD

Weren't NTL given a handsome incentive to cable the six counties? If you look at their coverage map, Northern Ireland is one of the biggest single areas that NTl cover.

Sponge Bob

not public money though unless they got a cut of this recent program .

eircomtribunal

Sponge Bob wrote:

not public money though unless they got a cut of this recent program .

As far as I remember the tender was won by BT (how could it be different) and BT alone deal with providing the 100% coverage. BT happily invested a multiple of the grant money, because it is actually (economically) nice to be in the position of USO broadband provider.
Eircom's constant "argument" about how hard they are hit by having to supply universal service (for telephone in this case) is a bollocks argument, and it needs a special sort of regulator to fall for it and grant them the high line rental – as compensation for what is actually a substantial competitive (and thus economic) advantage.

P.

egan007

Well done nordies !

Northern Ireland has become the first region in Europe to provide broadband access to all its residents and businesses.

Latest ENN headlines
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In the papers 17 January

Announcing 100 percent broadband availability, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Angela Smith, highlighted what a significant achievement this is for the region, saying that now "every household, business, school and library in Northern Ireland will be able to access broadband regardless of their location."

Latest figures reveal that there are approximately 180,000 broadband subscribers in Northern Ireland, which has an overall population of almost 1.7 million. Some 27 percent of households have signed up for broadband, while 38 percent of business have also subscribed to high-speed internet access services, a spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, told ElectricNews.Net.

The region's strong broadband performance is largely due to efforts by the Government, according to the spokesperson, who said that the importance of broadband was recognised by the Northern Ireland Assembly quite early on. As well as investing some STG10 million in the necessary infrastructure to deliver broadband, the Government awarded a contract to BT in March 2003 to provide broadband to 100 percent of the population.

"The significance of broadband access must not be understated -- the simple fact is Northern Ireland is one of the few regions in the world where all our citizens both at work and at home can avail of the benefits of broadband irrespective of their location," said Alastair Hamilton, director of BT Business.

Now that 100 percent availability has been achieved, Hamilton said the region "must set the pace for take-up and usage." Minister Smith concurs with Hamilton's sentiments, saying that Northern Ireland can't afford to stand still.

"We need to build on this achievement and look to the future for even lower broadband prices along with increased speeds becoming more widely available as services and demand increase," said Minister Smith.

This strong performance in Northern Ireland only serves to highlight the Republic's lacklustre broadband showing; on Friday, yet another report showed that Ireland is way behind other European nations in terms of access to high-speed internet services.

"There seems to be no end to the reports that show Ireland to be at the bottom, or close to the bottom in terms of broadband," said Tom Hickey, chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators (ALTO), speaking with ElectricNews.Net. "We need to learn from the Northern Ireland model and make moves on unbundling the local loop and generating more competition in the market."

Hickey pointed out that Ireland could potentially lose out to Northern Ireland in terms of attracting foreign investors. "Companies could also decide to re-locate to Northern Ireland, or indeed newer Member States who are already making moves to surpass Ireland in broadband terms," he said.

SOURCE: http://www.electricnews.net/frontpage/news-9663399.html

bealtine

egan007 wrote:

Well done nordies !

This strong performance in Northern Ireland only serves to highlight the Republic's lacklustre broadband showing; on Friday, yet another report showed that Ireland is way behind other European nations in terms of access to high-speed internet services.

I couldn't agree more. Our flea bitten rotting in the ground copper "infrastructure" is the main cause of our woes here.

Will it ever get better, not a chance...

Will our telcos ever run fibre to the kerb, not a chance..
They'd have to stop reusing their ancient binders and
calling it a phone line (simply because they can get away with it).
2 bits of string and some tin cans telecomms