Broadband News

£25m mobile broadband boost for Northern Ireland

Wednesday 15 February, 2012

By Kelvin Goodson

3G coverage to reach 94% thanks to upgrade funded by Everything Everywhere and Three.

Mobile broadband in Northern Ireland will soon be boosted to the tune of £25million.

The upgrade means 3G coverage - which provides mobile broadband - in Northern Ireland will reach 94% by the end of the year, up from 54% at present.

It is being funded by Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), a company jointly owned by mobile networks Everything Everywhere (the umbrella under which Orange and T-Mobile operate) and Three.

The expansion of the region's 3G coverage is expected to deliver “significant improvement on existing levels” as well as improved network performance and a better customer experience, according to the Northern Ireland executive.

Enterprise minister Arlene Foster said: “This is excellent news for Northern Ireland. My department has for a number of years recognised the importance of state-of-the-art telecommunications networks to the development of the economy.”

The upgrade should enable people in Northern Ireland to access the internet from smartphones, tablet computers, netbooks and laptops while on the move more widely, and improve the overall performance of the network.

Foster went on to say that the Department of Enterprise is also to begin looking at ways to improve “high-speed mobile delivery” - also known as 4G, the successor to 3G - in Northern Ireland.

“We are in detailed discussions with the UK government to source sizeable funding to deliver a 4G platform to allow us to benefit from the next evolution of mobile services,” she said.

Everything Everywhere and BT are currently trialling 4G in rural Cornwall, while, according to the Financial Times, Three is set to do the same in the Thames Valley area in March. Virgin Media and Vodafone have also carried out tests.