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Arlene Foster welcomes inclusion of Belfast in urban broadband fund
Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has praised the decision to give Belfast a chunk of the £100 million urban broadband funding package.
In his recent Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne revealed ten locations will be turned into "super-connected cities" with fibre optic broadband offering speeds of between 80Mbps and 100Mbps.
High-speed mobile connectivity will also be rolled out across each of these cities, which will include Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. The remaining six places that will feature in the initiative are set to be unveiled following a UK-wide competition.
Responding to the news, Ms Foster said it is right that Northern Ireland should continue to be a part of national infrastructure improvement programmes and stressed measures such as this are "critical" given the current economic climate.
"This will encourage new businesses to flourish in key creative industries requiring super-connectivity and allow homegrown businesses to compete globally," the politician remarked.
She went on to state it is now up to the Northern Ireland Executive to secure a large enough chunk of the £100 million funding package to ensure Belfast can "continue its development as a telecoms exemplar".
Northern Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is already in talks with the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport to develop the country's understanding of the project, Ms Foster revealed.
Other parts of Northern Ireland should also look to take advantage of the government funding package, she added, commenting: "I would encourage Londonderry, Newry and Lisburn to consider their telecommunications ambitions and to ensure that they participate in this competition."
Northern Ireland is already the best-connected nation in the UK in terms of super-fast broadband provision, with 97 per cent of properties able to access the service, compared to just 58 per cent across the country as a whole.