This is a significant achievement for the region. Although it is not an EU prerogative to enforce governments to provide universal broadband access to their citizens, Northern Ireland has shown that it is highly regarded. Thanks to this achievement, NI broadband providers are now able to offer broadband services to every household and business in the country, regardless of their location.

In other parts of the EU, coverage has reached levels of around 90% but no one else can claim 100% coverage as yet.

It is widely believed that the universal availability of broadband has played an important part in the growth of businesses in the region. Various industry sectors have reported new levels of growth since the inception of broadband and it may have been impossible to achieve this without the service.

However there are still areas in which progress can be made. Just because there is 100% availability, it does not mean there is 100% take-up, so now the NI government must encourage as many businesses and individuals as possible to sign up to the service in order to reap its full benefits. The last thing they want is a big white elephant instead of a fully functional communications system.

100% availability also does not necessarily equal 100% satisfaction. Some customers who cannot receive the service through their fixed telephone lines have complained that they are being forced to pay more for broadband via an expensive satellite link.

However work is being done to rectify this situation and improve the networks, so many of households who currently may not be able to receive broadband via their telephone line, should be able to in the future, ensuring a more fair system.

At the other end of the spectrum there are people who can connect to broadband through a choice of mediums – everything from cable or ADSL through a phone line, to wireless solutions such as satellite and radio broadband.

Northern Ireland will probably act as a blueprint for many other EU regions in the following years as broadband take-up continues to increase.

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