BT plans to install the high speed, fibre-optic equipment in more than 780 cabinets over the next 12 months Northern Ireland.
The investment is part of the British telco’s £2.5bn fibre roll-out in the UK, and will see the number of lines connected to a fibre broadband cabinet jumping from 54% to 88%.
This latest chapter will be delivered by 200 existing BT employees and third party contractors, as well as an additional 60 new recruits.
The Northern Ireland communities that BT will work with in the initial pilot phase include: The Ashton Centre in the Newlodge, North Belfast; Greater Shankill Development Association, West Belfast; and The Gasyard Development Trust (part of the Triax Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership), Derry City.
The suite of resources that BT will provide, in association with other partners, includes; fibre broadband; personal computers; certified training courses;and a single portal with the tools needed to support those taking steps to get online.
According to BT, Northern Ireland will be one of the best connected locations in the world, with more fibre deployed by March 2012 than most major European countries aspire to roll-out by 2015.
Fibre to the cabinet technology provides download speeds of up to 40Mbps and upload speeds of up to 10Mbps.
BT CEO in Northern Ireland Graham Sutherland said this is a great moment in Northern Ireland’s broadband story. High speed fibre broadband is transformational – it changes how we live, how we educate, how our businesses send their products and ideas around the world.
"Despite the challenging economic climate in Northern Ireland, broadband investment is a priority for BT. And we are proud of the central role we are playing in giving Northern Ireland a lead in fibre broadband league tables," Sutherland said.
