Northern Ireland confirms £17m broadband investment
Northern Ireland's government has confirmed it is to make a major investment in broadband infrastructure that it claims will put the country's telecoms on a par with the rest of the UK.
Enterprise minister Arlene Foster revealed that £17 million is being ploughed into the Superfast Rollout Programme, with BT put in charge of the project's delivery.
She described the latest investment in broadband technology as "a further step in improving superfast broadband services across Northern Ireland".
Ms Foster added: "It will bring more choice and improve speeds to over 38,000 premises. As a result of previous investments by the Executive, many people across Northern Ireland now enjoy some of the best telecoms services in the UK."
The £17 million investment is being made jointly by BT, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and the Department of Culture Media and Sport.
BT's chief executive for Northern Ireland Colm O’Neill explained that Northern Ireland already has some of the best fibre speeds and availability of anywhere in Europe.
He added: "For BT, this latest investment signifies our on-going commitment to support Northern Ireland's continued economic growth by future-proofing our infrastructure for the next generation.
"We're looking forward now to getting out into communities and enabling even more homes and businesses to enjoy the transformational benefits of superfast broadband."
Fast and reliable business broadband is becoming increasingly important to companies regardless of the industry in which they operate, so the announcement is likely to be welcomed by firms across Northern Ireland.
Those that are struggling with slow and unreliable connections may find they are being left behind by their rivals as a result of their inability to make the most of growing trends such as bring your own device, digital marketing, cloud computing and VoIP, all of which depend on solid business broadband systems.
Businesses looking to move services into the cloud should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.
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