BT Invests £20m To Bring FTTP Broadband To A Quarter Of Northern Ireland

BT is investing another £20 million to roll out fibre to the premise (FTTP) broadband to a quarter of all premises in the country by March 2019.

Northern Ireland has the highest availability of superfast broadband in the UK with 95 percent coverage, and BT made its first FTTP connection in 2015. As a result of this latest cash injection, an additional 140,000 homes and businesses will be able to get ‘ultrafast broadband’.

The investment complements BT’s existing joint programmes with the Northern Irish government.

BT Northern Ireland

“We’re delighted to be investing at this significant level, delivering against our local ambition to futureproof our Northern Ireland infrastructure and rank favourably amongst the best fibre networks in Europe,” said Mairead Meyer, BT Northern Ireland’s managing director for networks.

“Through our current investment programmes, 25 per cent of homes and businesses in Northern Ireland are scheduled to have access to ultrafast broadband by March 2019.  These investments are underpinning Northern Ireland’s internet economy and society, and bringing an online experience like never before to consumers and organisations.

“We’ve been sharing our fibre broadband vision with key stakeholders and today’s announcement is ultimately about driving choice and competition in this market because the network is available on an open wholesale basis to all broadband providers, meaning households and businesses will benefit from a choice of services, competitive pricing and products.”

BT has used fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology for the majority of its superfast broadband network but will use a combination of FTTP and G.Fast, which speeds up copper connections, to deliver ultrafast to the ‘majority’ of the UK within a decade.

Quiz: What do you know about fibre broadband?