Fibrus, a telecommunications service provider, has reportedly been awarded a £23 million government contract to upgrade Northern Irelands digital infrastructure. According to reports, the successful completion of the contract will allow approximately 900 public-sector facilities in Northern Ireland to be connected with a hyper-fast internet connection.
The government stated that these public sector centers can speed up the roll-out of more reliable and consistent internet to neighboring residential and business premises through separate commercial investment programs.
The £23 million government funding is in part to support the Full Fibre Northern Ireland (FFNI) Consortium, which aims to increase Northern Ireland's high-speed fiber broadband footprint.
The FFNI Consortium is made up of 10 councils outside Belfast, and the Business Services Organization (BSO), and is led by Mourne, Newry, and Down District Council.
The consortium has received financing under the Local Full Fibre Network and Rural Gigabit Connectivity programs, from the Department of Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Dominic Kearns, CEO of Fibrus, stated that the deal would allow the firm to strengthen the digital infrastructure of Northern Ireland.
Kearns added, the opportunity of delivering this vital infrastructure to all these public sector buildings and councils enables the firm to expand its network even further into the surrounding businesses and homes that require the services.
Fibrus is dedicated to help the government in achieving its policy goal of ubiquitous full-fiber coverage, and this project would be a big step towards that goal. Kearns stated further.
Matt Warman, Digital Infrastructure Minister of the UK, stated that the broadband scale-up for Belfast demonstrates that the government's strategy to rebuild better is paying off for families and companies, and the government is delighted to announce a further £24 million to duplicate its success throughout other parts of Northern Ireland.
Source credit: https://www.fibrus.com/news/fibrus-wins-ffni-contract