Broadband boost
BT has announced it will plough more cash into Northern Ireland's fibre broadband network as part of its £2.5bn rollout plans in the UK.
The company said its latest investment in fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology will result in the number of lines connected to a fibre broadband cabinet jumping from 54 percent to 88 percent.
Furthermore, BT said that when its work is done, Northern Ireland will be one of the best connected locations in the world, with more fibre deployed by March 2012 than most major European countries aspire to roll-out by 2015.
Around 200 existing BT employees plus third party contractors and 60 new recruits will work on the regional fibre rollout project, which is one of the biggest engineering projects undertaken to date in Northern Ireland.
The firm reckons fibre broadband will ‘help transform Northern Ireland's local economy' by giving new opportunities to consumers and businesses as well as attracting high value and growth companies to the region.
FTTC tech provides download speeds of up to 40Mbps and upload speeds of up to 10Mbps and a recent (albeit not terribly scientific) survey has suggested super-fast broadband could even boost house prices.
BT said that the fibre network is open and available on a wholesale basis to communications providers on equal terms to encourage competition, which consumers will do doubt hope will drive prices down. The roll-out of the latest phase will start immediately and run until March 2012.
"This is a great moment in Northern Ireland's broadband story. High speed fibre broadband is transformational - it changes how we live, how we educate, how our businesses send their products and ideas around the world," said Graham Sutherland, CEO of BT in Northern Ireland.
