Derry outpaces all UK and Ireland cities to achieve fibre broadband

Derry outpaces all UK and Ireland cities to achieve fibre broadband milestone

BT, the principal partner of Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013, today announced that all street cabinets serving customers within Derry City have now been upgraded with fibre broadband technology, propelling Derry ahead of other cities in UK and Ireland. The transformational technology will help Derry realise its ambition to be a creative and digitally connected city, by providing widespread access to superfast fibre-based broadband to consumers and businesses.

The extensive roll-out of this next generation broadband technology is a key commitment that BT announced in January as part of its five year, multi-million pound, partnership of the City of Culture 2013. It also builds on BT's investment in the Next Generation Broadband Project, which it delivered on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

With 100% of street cabinets in Derry City now upgraded with fibre-to-the-cabinet technology, close to 39,000 homes and businesses can experience download speeds of up to 40Mbps, increasing to up to 80Mbps by next year. Importantly, this technology drives choice and competition because it is delivered on an open access basis to allow other broadband service providers to access the network.

Speaking on behalf of the Culture Company 2013, Chairperson, Martin Bradley said;

The City of Culture designation is a tremendous catalyst for the rejuvenation and regeneration of the city, and we've already had a number of key infrastructural developments on the back of this accolade. Given the economic climate we have now, it is crucially important that businesses here have every advantage and aid they can get, and having the high speed broadband connectivity that BT has given us will be a fantastic boost to the local economy.

Colm O’Neill, Chief Executive Officer, BT in Northern Ireland said,

The delivery of this ambitious project within a tight timescale involved vision, collaboration and commitment from stakeholders who shared a common objective to realise Derry's aspiration to be a digital champion. This next generation broadband network will provide a future-proof foundation to support Derry's economic, social and cultural aims, and we are proud to be at the heart of many of the pioneering projects this exciting city has planned for this generation and the next.

Welcoming the announcement, Aideen McGinley, Chief Executive, ILEX said,

The One City One Plan One Voice initiative prioritised the digital economy as a game changer in the transformation of Derry/Londonderry, and this has now been fast forwarded by the accelerated delivery of this broadband infrastructure. The support of BT has been exemplary, and in the work that they have done with us to become a leading digital city, they have created a model of best practice in how to make things happen.

Padraig Canavan, President, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce said,

The Londonderry Chamber of Commerce is delighted that this important milestone has been achieved, and in such a timely fashion. For Chamber members this means a step up in their capability to compete — especially important when times are tough. For the City's residents it opens up a world of new possibilities in personal commerce, entertainment and education. For the City of Culture 2013 it means we can now freely exchange cultural experiences in an enriched way. We commend BT for welcoming Derry to this new era first.

Businesses and consumers in Derry are already experiencing the benefits of superfast broadband. Joe Lindsay of Unit 7 Audio Visual said, 'If we didn’t have access to this fibre broadband service, I doubt we could function as well as we do, if at all. This has given us the confidence to put in place plans to grow the business and look to the future.

Seamus Breslin of design and print company, Print It For Me.com, added,

Whilst our figures are estimated, we do believe that the existence of fibre broadband in our business will save us on average £7,500 per year in costs that would have been associated with maintaining backups, network and intranet.

Further information on superfast broadband, including availability, benefits, and service providers, is available at www.nibroadband.com.