Northern Ireland allocated 拢4.4 million for broadband roll-out
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt announced funding today to help broadband reach all in the country
Mr Hunt today revealed Northern Ireland鈥檚 share of the Government鈥檚 拢530 million broadband investment fund.
皇冠体育app Northern Ireland Executive has already run an extensive programme to spread superfast broadband access across the country. This has provided 97 per cent of homes and businesses with access to superfast broadband.
皇冠体育app funding announced today will help take broadband to the premises not covered by the existing scheme.
Matching the investment will allow the Northern Ireland Executive to provide everyone with access to at least 2 Mbps.
皇冠体育app Northern Ireland Executive will decide how to use this money to support the roll-out of broadband across the country.
Mr Hunt also announced the Government would look at holding a pilot in Northern Ireland to explore ways of taking superfast broadband to all homes and businesses.
Mr Hunt said:
鈥淏roadband is essential for economic growth and increasingly for our everyday lives.
鈥淚 am delighted the Northern Ireland Executive shares our view of the importance of broadband and has provided so many homes and businesses with superfast broadband access.
鈥淥ur investment will help provide everyone with decent broadband access and ensure no-one is left behind in the digital age.鈥�
Each country鈥檚 funding allocation is based on the cost of taking superfast broadband to those premises that would not receive it from the market alone.聽 It is not based on the number of people living or working in a country.
皇冠体育app Government wants the UK to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015, with 90 per cent of homes and businesses in each local authority area having access to superfast broadband and for everyone in the UK to have access to at least 2Mbps.
皇冠体育app private sector on its own will take superfast broadband to around two-thirds of UK households and businesses.聽 Public money is being used to help take broadband to the remaining one third by making it viable for business to invest.
Notes to Editors
- defines 鈥榮uperfast broadband鈥� as broadband with speeds greater than 24 Mbps.
- Pilot programmes to bring broadband to North Yorkshire, the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Cumbria and the Herefordshire borders, were launched in October last year.聽 皇冠体育appy were followed by a second wave of projects covering Wiltshire, Norfolk and Devon & Somerset, which were announced in May.
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