Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster responds to OFCOM report on broadband speeds

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has said the recent OFCOM report on broadband speeds does not fully reflect the services available in Northern Ireland, which currently has the best superfast provision in the UK.

 The Minister said: "Almost £50 million has been invested in the telecommunications infrastructure as part of the Next Generation Broadband Project, which involved the introduction of new technology to increase broadband speeds, primarily for businesses users, across all of Northern Ireland - including Fermanagh.

 "The OFCOM report notes that Northern Ireland has the best superfast broadband services in the UK but omits this from the broadband speeds in the report. I will be writing to OFCOM to express my disappointment that the Report makes this important omission.

"Over the past 18 months, the Next Generation Broadband Project has seen BT invest nearly £29.8million in Northern Ireland's telecommunications infrastructure, with a further £16.5million coming from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI), and the EU under the ERDF Competitiveness Programme of £10.5million was invested in rural areas and £6million in urban areas. Also £1.5million has been invested from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) under the EU ERADF Rural Development Programme. This has attracted a further investment from DARD and DETI totalling some £2million.

 "OFCOM notes that the report does not include superfast broadband users in their data on speeds nor does it include radio, mobile or satellite broadband services all of which my department has made investments in to ensure everyone can get a basic broadband service across Northern Ireland. OFCOM advise that consumers should check with their Internet Service Provider to see if their speeds can be improved.

Arlene Foster added: "Our telecoms infrastructure is a tremendous asset for Northern Ireland which, can increase productivity and improve the competitiveness of the economy as a whole. Superfast services are highly available and I would certainly encourage consumers to switch.

"More can always be done and earlier this week I announced a further £500,000 of funding to support broadband technology trials and provision of access to high speed commercial services in rural areas.

"While the average speed of 4.3 Mbps for Fermanagh quoted in the report exceeds the minimum speeds being sought by the UK government under the Broadband UK project, we are working with them to ensure higher broadband services are delivered as widely as possible. In fact, the average speeds quoted for all of Northern Ireland exceed the 2Mbps target. I have consistently lobbied the Department for Culture, Media and Sports and BDUK to ensure that Northern Ireland gets its fair share of funding under this initiative to ensure higher speed broadband services are services are delivered as widely as possible.

Arlene Foster went on to say she had lobbied OFCOM on a number of occasions about the quality and coverage of mobile services in County Fermanagh and other rural areas of Northern Ireland.

The Minister added: "My Department has recently responded to an OFCOM consultation on proposals for auction in 2012 of spectrum considered critical to the efficient delivery of mobile services. My stance on this is clear - OFCOM must address regional disparity in access to 3G services by setting coverage requirements which are specific to Northern Ireland."

Robinson and McGuinness welcome Rory McIlroy to Stormont Castle, 30 Jun 11

Statement from OFMDFM on issues raised by Victims Commission

First Minister the Rt. Hon Peter D Robinson MLA and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MP, MLA have today written to Acting Chair of the Commission for Victims and Survivors, Brendan McAllister.



In their letter, the First Minister and deputy First Minister express their disappointment that Mr McAllister did not seek a meeting with them in relation to concerns over what he described as ‘pressure points’ in the victims sector, before going public on the issue.



The Ministers go on to say that they have always been happy to facilitate meetings with the Commission and they have extended an invitation to Mr McAllister and his fellow Commissioners to meet with them to discuss their issues of concern. 



Notes
 to editors:

1. Over the last three years £36million has been allocated to Victims and Survivors, while a further £50million has been set aside for allocation during the 2011-15 CSR period.



2. Specifically in relation to support for individual victims and survivors, the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund received a total budget allocation of £4.4million in 2010-11. We are working to ensure that the fund’s budget for 2011/12, a further £3million, can be released in early July.



3. To date, under the new schemes which opened in November, awards have been issued to almost 2,500 successful applications. This amounts to a value of £3.6million. 



Robinson and McGuinness condemn bomb attack

First Minister Rt Hon Peter D. Robinson MLA and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MP MLA have condemned today's bomb attack in Derry/Londonderry.



Mr Robinson said: "This bomb was deliberately placed in one of the busiest areas of the city and was designed to murder innocent people as they shopped on a Saturday afternoon. The perpetrators of this disgusting attack have no regard for human life. Indeed if it were not for the vigilance of the security forces we could have been faced with a far greater tragedy this afternoon.

"The people of Londonderry and of Northern Ireland have made it clear in our recent elections that they have no wish to return to the dark days of the past. There is no support for those who wish to destroy and divide us with this type of evil and callous attack. They will not succeed."



Mr McGuinness said: "This afternoon's attack in the centre of Derry was carried out by people who have no mandate from anyone. Those who carried it out need to realise that such an attack only hardens our resolve to ensure that peace survives and continues to flourish.


"The people of Derry have worked hard to build a city that is peaceful and inclusive. Their hard work will not be undone by today's mindless act."