Council Welcomes Investment in Full Fibre for District

Yesterday the Chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Cllr Charlie Casey and officials from the Full Fibre Northern Ireland (FFNI) operations team welcomed the opportunity to meet DCMS Minister Matt Warman and BDUK officials via video conference to discuss the progress on FFNI’s Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) and Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) projects. The LFFN and RGC projects are currently out for procurement.

By connecting public sector sites, FFNI will help to improve the business case for the private sector to invest in fibre networks and roll out ultrafast fibre into surrounding communities. This approach will offer an innovative boast to the local economy increasing GVA and stimulating productivity and investment in the area.

Speaking at the event, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Charlie Casey said, “This funding secured from DCMS through the LFFN and RGC programmes will deliver new fibre optic broadband infrastructure across Northern Ireland, using public sector anchors as key hubs. Accessing this funding will provide gigabit capable full fibre services and offers next generation connectivity at speeds which will further boost our ambitious economic development agenda and our drive to attract more inward investment, business growth, new business, and more jobs.”

The UK Government's Minister for Digital Infrastructure, Matt Warman, said, “We are taking the next step in our plans to futureproof Northern Ireland’s broadband for a generation. This £15 million investment from the UK government will boost public services and buildings with gigabit broadband and encourage suppliers to improve connections to nearby homes and businesses in the process. Across the UK we are also investing £5 billion to make sure hard-to-reach areas are not left behind.

He continued, “The LFFN and RGC are ‘Full Fibre’ projects and the funding is to purchase gigabit capable dark fibre or equivalent (ie fibre optic cables). Full Fibre offers typically 15 times the theoretical maximum of fibre to the cabinet and more than thirty times the speed of the commonly named superfast (30mbps) that is generally available.”