DETI UK Move to Fill Northern Irelands Last Sub 2Mbps Broadband Slowspots

The UK government’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) has quietly launched a new public consultation that aims to find and fill the last remaining sub-2Mbps broadband ISP slowspots in Northern Ireland, which is despite the regions superfast broadband availability already being close to 100%.

Northern Ireland is already one of the strongest parts of the UK for broadband coverage. Ofcom’s latest March 2012 data claimed that “all homes” in the region are now connected to an ADSL-enabled BT local exchange (note: this doesn’t necessarily mean they can receive a good service / speed) and 66% of homes have already taken a fixed broadband ISP connection (UK average of 72%).

Crucially Northern Ireland also has the highest estimated proportion of homes able to receive a superfast broadband (25Mbps+) service (94%), which is dominated by coverage from both Virgin Media and BT. Ofcom estimates that 87% of homes in the region were able to receive BT’s up to 80Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology by March 2012.

Despite the strong figures there are still pockets in the region where broadband remains either too slow or is simply unusable and that’s what DETI intends to target.

DETI Statement

The DETI Telecoms Action Plan 2011-15 proposed that it would ‘ensure the continuing provision of access to a broadband service in Northern Ireland, regardless of where you live or do business.’

The UK Government’s has proposed that virtually all premises across Northern Ireland [and the UK] should be able to access a broadband service with a speed of at least 2 Megabits per second (Mbps) by 2015 and to provide superfast broadband to at least 90% of premises with speeds in excess of 24 Mbps.

DETI is considering those homes and businesses in Northern Ireland, particularly those in rural areas, where the choice of broadband provision is limited and/or the available speeds are less than 2 Mbps.

People who believe they are unable to receive internet download speeds of 2Mbps or better have been asked to complete a special form by 12th October 2012 and return it to DETI, which should help to inform the departments future strategy. Further details can be found at the link below. Vredits to Thinkbroadband for catching this update.

DETI Telecoms Policy
http://www.detini.gov.uk/deti-telecoms-index/deti-telecoms-whats-new.htm