INTERNET
NI boasts fastest broadband adoption rates in UK
07-06-2006
by Ciara O'Brien
Northern Ireland has one of the fastest rates of broadband take-up in the UK, with some 230,000 subscribers in the region.
According to the latest figures from Northern Ireland's Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment, the region is still trailing areas such as London, but is comparable with Scotland and Wales in terms of broadband take-up.
"Over the past six months, consumers have been adopting [broadband] at the fastest rates in the UK," said the North's Enterprise Minister Maria Eagle. "Furthermore, in the past two years the number of accounts has risen from some 60,000 in 2004 to today's levels of approximately 230,000."
In January, Northern Ireland achieved 100 percent broadband availability throughout the region. Since then, some 59 percent of households in the region access the internet, with 57 percent of home users having broadband access.
"It is clear that people in Northern Ireland see benefits in having broadband both in business and at home, and I would urge those who are considering getting broadband to act soon," the minister said.
"Government, along with the EU under the Building Sustainable Prosperity Programme, has invested to ensure anyone in Northern Ireland who wants a broadband service can get it. This makes the region unique in Europe if not the world."
A DETI spokesperson attributed the success in broadband take-up to the 100 percent availability of broadband across the whole of Northern Ireland. "Every household, business, school and library can access broadband regardless of their location," she told ENN. "Take-up is further encouraged by connection costing no more that STG27 per month."
This success is in sharp contrast to the much slower take-up rates in the Republic of Ireland. Ireland is currently lagging in the bottom quarter of the OECD's league tale of 30 countries. Ireland's penetration rate of 6.7 broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants compares with an OECD average of 13.6 and an EU average of 11.8.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show only 45.1 percent of Irish households had internet connections by the end of 2005, up from 38.2 percent in 2004.
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