NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND - CASE STUDIES

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1 NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND - CASE STUDIES HEADLINE A pioneering project that succeeded in ensuring that 85% of businesses across Northern Ireland have access to a next generation broadband service of 2 Megabits per second or better. BENEFICIARIES Tommy Leckey Photographer, Killough, Co Down, Northern Ireland Professional Photographer Superfast broadband has revolutionised my business. "Superfast fibre broadband has really helped my business. I can now download photos and high resolution pictures much quicker than with my old non-fibre connection. Fibre has provided me with a swifter and better service and the ability to send many files simultaneously has really helped me out. It has revolutionised my business and allowed me to utilise different software packages that I couldn't previously take advantage of due to poor download speeds - this isn't a problem anymore!"

2 Mr Pescott Scribble & Stitch, Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, Northern Ireland Business Commercial Illustrator Superfast broadband gives me a really stable service! Fibre broadband gives me a really stable service with double the upload speed I used to have. That s vital for me as I work on large image files that I often want to upload several at a time for clients. It s so quick and reliable that I don t even notice the time any more but it takes minutes where it used to be hours. I have the internet open all the time and I can stream radio or Spotify while I work. And the kids can be on YouTube or Xbox Live next door it doesn t affect the speed or quality we all experience. John Paul Annett JR Annett, Warrenpoint, Co. Down, Northern Ireland Business - Picture and Mirror Manufacturer Fibre broadband will continue to save us money, improve customer service and win more business. In July of this year we entered the GB market with a very basic online presence. In October 2010, we switched to super-fast, fibre optic broadband and everything has changed dramatically. In the past it would take between seconds for a single image to load on the website, it now uploads straight away. Videos, which were impossible to upload properly beforehand, can now be put up onto the site with ease. Fibre broadband will continue to save us money, improve customer service and win more business.

3 Anthony Donnelly Photo Dome - Kodak Express, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland Business Photographic Processing Having a faster service means that we can do more business. "Having fibre broadband has made a real difference to us, especially when the shop is busy. The speed that people can download or print pictures is really noticeable. Having a faster service means that we can do more business and customers don t usually run into long queues in the shop. Bigger picture files aren t a problem either, so we can cope with any kind of demand and have people out the door with their pictures in no time." Roisin Chambers - K-Point Internet Solutions, Warrenpoint, Co. Down, Northern Ireland "In our line of business, high speed broadband is a necessity, not a luxury" "We sell our RentPro property management solution to letting agents throughout the British Isles. Because the system is web-based we need access to fast broadband speeds to connect to our remote servers for large file transfers. In the past we would have been geographically challenged in terms of access to broadband speeds due to our remote location, but with the advent of the next generation broadband network we are getting the speeds we need to compete effectively."

4 CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED/REASONS FOR PROJECT Northern Ireland s local access networks are very strong. In 2005 Northern Ireland became the first region in Europe to have 100% access to first generation broadband (512kbps). However telecommunications is a fast moving market and the focus is increasingly on access to 'next generation' broadband. Demand for higher broadband speeds is increasing. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment ("DETI"), a Northern Ireland Government Department recognised that connectivity is a basic requirement for the development of a knowledge-based economy as well as a necessity for the adoption and usage of information and communication technologies. Broadband is of strategic importance due to its ability to accelerate the contribution of these technologies to economic growth, to facilitate innovation and in order to enhance social inclusion. Hence the Government in Northern Ireland set a target to "increase the availability of next generation broadband speeds to 85% of businesses by 2011" as part of a wider published plan to ensure the development of modern, efficient infrastructure, essential for economic and social development. Based on published plans by the telecoms operators and discussions with key stakeholders it was recognised that the next generation on broadband services would be focused on larger urban centres across the UK. THE PROJECT On 3 December 2009 it was announced that a contract had been awarded, following a competitive tender, to the telecommunications company British Telecom to deliver this objective. The project delivers high-speed broadband services to both rural and urban areas across Northern Ireland where this minimum service was not available, or was unlikely to be available in the near future. To achieve this, BT deployed fibre optic cable deep into Northern Ireland s urban districts, towns, villages and countryside and using new Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology distribute broadband services to nearby business. Upgrades took place at 1175 locations support by upgrades to equipment in 166 exchanges. These upgrades took place over an 18 month time frame and were completed on time and on budget. Under the project BT deployed fibre to the cabinet technology (FTTC) to the majority of businesses with other fixed line solutions being used where appropriate. The tender specified that businesses in urban areas should receive a minimum downstream speed of 10 Megabits per second (Mbps) and ones in rural areas 2Mbps. This was delivered with many businesses receiving speeds well in excess of those benchmarks. BT invested over 30million in the project, with a further 16.5 million coming from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI), under the European Regional Development Fund's (ERDF) European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme.

5 An associated 1.5 million from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) Rural Development Programme was utilised in a clearly identified sub project and directed to specific geographical areas. This enabled BT to deploy fibre optic technology to a number of additional cabinets in sparsely populated rural areas where due to the sparse density of businesses in these areas BT would most likely have to have restricted upgrades to broadband extension technology as the business demand would not have justified the capital expenditure to upgrade cabinets in these exchanges. FUTURE PLANS We believe that access to reliable, cost-effective broadband solutions across all of Northern Ireland remains important. In particular, we are mindful of the needs and expectations of those customers who live or do business in remote rural locations in Northern Ireland and who are increasingly dependent on higher speed services to allow them to access the same opportunities as users located in towns and cities. We therefore recognise that we have further work to do to increase the coverage of the next generation of broadband services in line with the UK objective of the having the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015 By March 2012, taking BT s ongoing investment in FTTC alongside DETI s investment Northern Ireland s core telecommunications network will benefit from close to 2,400 fully fibred cabinets. We believe that fibre deployed deep into our rural network is a key platform upon which to address the objectives of national and EU broadband targets. These assets could be used extending fibre deployment further and deliver improved mobile broadband services.