Northern Ireland's government has supported a trial to increase the availability of high-speed broadband.
The Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI) has provided £67,000 for a housing association to install infrastructure capable of delivering 20Mbps in new homes in Belfast.
DETI has been working with the developer, Clanmil Housing, Virgin Media and Bytel Networks as part of its trial aimed at making high-speed broadband available throughout the province.
The trial covers two technologies — fibre to the street cabinet (sometimes referred to as fibre to the kerb) and fibre to the home. Virgin Media has installed optical fibre to a series of street cabinets around a new housing development. The connection from the cabinet to the home is by copper cable.
The Bytel Networks trial is limited to 10 houses and involves optical fibre cable right into the house. It terminates under the stairs where a small unit has been installed to convert the optical signal to digital. It is then spread through the house by conventional copper communications cable.
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The trial involves looking at the cost, technical and practical issues involved in installing the infrastructure.
Economy minister Nigel Dodds said: "The information and knowledge gained from this trial will help shape our future strategy for broadband services in Northern Ireland. Working with the Department for Social Development and Clanmil Housing on this trial, we now know that high-speed broadband can be delivered through fibre optics at a reasonable cost into new housing developments."
