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

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.