Northern Ireland scored a European first yesterday when it was announced it was the first region to offer 100 per cent broadband internet access.
Northern enterprise minister Angela Smith said it was a "significant achievement" for the North to lead Europe in broadband availability.
"Every household, business, school and library in Northern Ireland will be able to access broadband regardless of their location," said the minister.
The government invested £10 million (€14.6 million) in delivering broadband across Northern Ireland and she said it was a key provision in ensuring that the infrastructure, necessary to compete successfully in the global market, was in place.
But Ms Smith said the North needed to build on the achievement and look to the future for even lower broadband prices along with increased speed becoming more widely available as services and demand increased.
BT won a tendering process in 2003 to provide the broadband blanket coverage, and Alastair Hamilton, director of BT Business, said the significance of broadband access must not be underestimated. "Now that 100 per cent availability has been achieved our next big challenge is to utilise broadband and the benefits it brings," he added. - (PA)
