Northern Ireland tourist attraction upgrades to Full Fibre
Ebrington Square, a public space and tourist attraction in Co. Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland, has recently been upgraded to Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband across the Openreach network.
After a period of regeneration, Ebrington Square represents a new chapter in the story of Derry-Londonderry and has hosted a number of key events in the city, including during its time as UK City of Culture in 2013.
Built upon the former Naval base, Ebrington Barracks, Ebrington Square houses a number of local companies such as HR Team Ltd and The AMP. It’s also home to a number of tourist attractions, including an award-winning brewery and 4* hotel, set to welcome a surge of international visitors to the city in years to come.
With growing opportunities for entertainment, tourism and local employment at Ebrington, there was a desire - and indeed necessity - for future-proofed, high bandwidth digital infrastructure. Yet despite the large-scale refurbishment of the site, local businesses expressed concerns around the lack of high-speed broadband they required to operate and grow.
In response, Openreach NI, the country’s leading broadband network, worked closely with the Executive Office and local councillor Padraig Delargy MLA to build on the foundations across the site, allowing SME and start-up organisations to access Full Fibre with speeds up to twelve times faster than an average broadband connection at a lower price.
Openreach also made available Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) to all existing units located around Ebrington including a number of units with multiple tenants.
Commenting on the work carried out, the Executive Office said: “After a number of local businesses expressed their concerns on broadband speeds and availability at Ebrington, the Executive Office worked to build the infrastructure needed to make Full Fibre broadband available to residents. We have already started to see the game-changing impact of fast and reliable on local businesses and I’m confident it will also ensure the best possible experience for visitors for years to come.”
A local business based in Ebrington Square, HR Team, has firmly cemented its position as a leading HR Consultancy in Northern Ireland. Yet despite the business’s success, it previously struggled with poor broadband speeds and reliability, making everyday tasks difficult.
Speaking about the business’s experience, Martina McAuley, Director of HR Team Ltd, said: “The majority of our business is conducted online, and as providers of HR Software, it is essential that we are operating with the most efficient internet service. Our team of HR consultants carry out important work for clients based not only in Northern Ireland, but also in ROI and the UK. Without access to reliable broadband, this would be much more challenging”.
Martina continued: “The building in which we’re based, ‘the old guardhouse’, was completely refurbished into a beautiful working environment; however it did not previously have access to Full Fibre broadband. Openreach’s build to Ebrington Square has therefore been a welcome service for our business and our team. Well-functioning broadband means that we can get on with what we do best; and that is providing first class HR services to our clients."
Openreach is continuing with their build of Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband across the North West and all of Northern Ireland.
