Northern Ireland's Department of Finance and Personnel has contracted BT to maximise high-speed broadband coverage through the country.
According to a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union on 14 January, it has provided capital grant funding of £18m on behalf of the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI). This will be used as gap funding to extend the broadband infrastructure.
The move has been made to help fulfil the DETI's target to increase the availability of next generation broadband to 85 percent of businesses by 2011. BT will be required to provide high-speed broadband services to the rural and urban business community in specified areas within a defined timeframe.
The company will retain ownership of the network infrastructure and be responsible for its rollout and maintenance over the next five years.
