Home
 » ISP News » 
Sponsored Links

A 2017 Summary of the Broadband Pledges from Parties in Northern Ireland

Wednesday, May 24th, 2017 (9:04 am) - Score 806

Over the past week we’ve highlighted the broadband and internet related commitments from nearly all of the major UK political parties (here, here and here) and Plaid Cymru in Wales (here). Today we’ve done a quick summary of what the key parties in Northern Ireland are promising.

At present around 98% of N.Ireland is already covered by a “fibre broadband” style network, although most of this is Openreach (BT) based FTTC (note: only about a third comes via Virgin Media’s cable) and as a result just 80%+ can actually access “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) speeds. Suffice to say that there’s plenty of room for improvement.

Traditionally the political parties of N.Ireland haven’t put much effort into campaigning on issues of digital connectivity (they have more important concerns). At present the country is also going through another bout of political turmoil and has only just had one election, which means the manifestos are broadly unchanged from the March 2017 vote.

SDLP
http://www.sdlp.ie

2017 Manifesto Policy on Broadband (here):
We will ensure the full application of rural proofing to promote equal and fair access to public services, transportation and high speed broadband and support for rural businesses.”

Sinn Fein
http://www.sinnfein.ie

2017 Manifesto Policy on Broadband (here):
Rural – Extend fast-speed broadband to rural communities.”

Ulster Unionists UUP
http://www.uup.org

2017 Manifesto Policy on Broadband (here):
The provision of broadband in Northern Ireland lags far behind the UK as a whole. There is firm evidence of a further divide within Northern Ireland between urban and rural areas. In recognising the importance of businesses to be connected in the increasingly digitised marketplace, we would promote alternative technologies in the delivery of broadband services.”

Democratic Unionist Party DUP
http://www.mydup.com

2017 Manifesto Policy on Broadband (here):
No mentions.

The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI)
https://www.allianceparty.org/

2017 Manifesto Policy on Broadband (here):
Invest in greater coverage for broadband and mobile telephone coverage.”

Sadly none of the parties have put down any specific funding or targets for improving the country’s broadband connectivity.

Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and .
Search ISP News
Search ISP Listings
Search ISP Reviews

Comments are closed

Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £24.00
132Mbps
Gift: None
Shell Energy UK ISP Logo
Shell Energy £26.99
109Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £27.99
145Mbps
Gift: None
Zen Internet UK ISP Logo
Zen Internet £28.00 - 35.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £15.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
YouFibre UK ISP Logo
YouFibre £19.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £21.00
150Mbps
Gift: £25 Love2Shop Card
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (5473)
  2. BT (3505)
  3. Politics (2525)
  4. Openreach (2291)
  5. Business (2251)
  6. Building Digital UK (2234)
  7. FTTC (2041)
  8. Mobile Broadband (1961)
  9. Statistics (1780)
  10. 4G (1654)
  11. Virgin Media (1608)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1451)
  13. Fibre Optic (1392)
  14. Wireless Internet (1386)
  15. FTTH (1381)

Helpful ISP Guides and Tips

Promotion
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms , Privacy and Cookie Policy , Links , Website Rules , Contact
Mastodon