Newry Armagh Sinn Féin Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Reliable Broadband access needed throughout North - Boylan

Published: 31 July, 2009

Cathal Boylan, Sinn Féin MLA for Newry and Armagh has welcomed the recent investment to improve broadband services in rural areas as a start but that much more must be done.

'Whilst the £177,000 being spent in the Northwest and Fermanagh will improve the service in those areas, there are many more rural constituencies such as South Armagh and Tyrone which have major problems which need to be addressed.

'We also have a problem with broadband speeds where Internet Service Providers are failing to come anywhere near the specification advertised, mainly, they say, because of the distance from local exchanges. ASDL is a distance dependent service, and the signal diminishes the further it has to travel. For the vast majority of users, especially those in rural areas which do have access, this means a reduced service. I am aware, through talking to them, that the Service Providers are trying hard to find a resolution to this problem."

The Assembly member concluded;

'The Minister has a £1.9 million Broadband Fund, I hope she will continue to feed this out to ensure that everywhere in the North not only has access to a Broadband Service, but a service which is fit for purpose.'