DIGITAL infrastructure provider Openreach has hit the significant milestone of connecting its 100,000th customer to the ultrafast full fibre broadband in Northern Ireland.
And it says it is on track to deliver on its target of providing full fibre connectivity to at least 75 per cent of homes and businesses across the region by next March.
Tullyraine Veterinary Clinic outside Banbridge, owned by Hugh and Alison Suffern, has become the 100,000th Openreach customer to be upgraded to the latest broadband technology.
Hugh said: “I’m delighted to join Openreach in celebrating the fantastic work it is carrying out to connect Northern Ireland to their ultrafast full fibre technology, urban and rural communities alike.
“The pandemic has shown how important online services are for how we live, work, keep in touch and, crucially for us, how we keep our business operating and provide the best service to our clients.
“After years of poor speeds and reliability, which made day-to-day tasks more difficult, access to the latest broadband technology will make a huge difference to us.”
Garret Kavanagh, director of Openreach NI, said: “We're extremely proud to have connected our 100,000th customer to this life-changing technology. Building the next generation of broadband has been and will continue to be transformational for Northern Ireland.
“I’d like to commend the efforts of our 1,000 strong team, as it is their dedication, expertise and desire to consistently deliver the best results for our customers that has ensured the region is getting the digital infrastructure it needs.
“Our investment in the overall infrastructure of £130 million between 2021 and 2022 will continue to drive the build forward and open up endless opportunities as more and more customers like Hugh and Alison connect to our future-proof broadband network.”
Over the last decade Openreach UK, a wholly owned and independently governed unit of the BT Group, has invested more than £15 billion into its network and, at more than 190 million kilometres – long enough to wrap around the world 4,798 times.
