£32m boost for £165m gov funded rural broadband scheme
It means Project Stratum will reach 8,500 more premises than initially planned.
A total of 85,000 homes and businesses will be connected to high-speed internet as Project Stratum receives another cash boost.
The largest ever publicly funded scheme of this nature in Northern Ireland kicked off when Fibrus was awarded the £165million contract in November 2020, but another £32million announced today (Monday) will result in an additional 8,500 premises being brought into scope of the project.
The Department for the Economy says that 2,500 of these premises were not initially included in the plans from Fibrus.
So far, 22,000 premises have been connected through the intervention scheme, which seeks to address long-standing connectivity issues for rural areas.
It is hoped all properties will be connected by 2025.
Fibrus Networks' chief operating officer Conor Harrison has described the project as "the most important infrastructure project of a generation".
"At Fibrus we thrive on the impact it is having on rural people, families, and local businesses," he added.
"By the end of 2025, our hope is that every property has access to proper fibre infrastructure, and we intend to play our part in making this a reality."
The news comes after the Auditor General raised concerns about the scheme in a report published in December 2021.
Kieran Donnelly had questions about whether or not the amount of subsidy given to the project was justified.
His report said that, when the bids were received, the solution proposed by BT covered 100% of the target intervention area specified, while the proposal from Fibrus covered almost 97%.
The report the tender lodged by Fibrus omitted around 2,500 premises in the targeted intervention area, which the department estimated will cost around a further £24 million to address.
Downtown / Cool FM has asked the Department for the Economy if the latest announcement which includes 2,500 premises “not initially in the scope of the project” refers to the same addresses Mr Donnelly noted were missing from the original plans.