The power of connection: Creating long lasting impact for Northern Ireland
Chief Operating Officer of Fibrus, Shane Haslem, discusses the transformational impact of grassroots engagement, and the positive benefits brought about by increased rural connectivity in Northern Ireland.
When Fibrus co-founders Dominic Kearns and Conal Henry set the business up in July 2019, their mission was clear: To bring full fibre broadband to homes and businesses in rural, hard to reach places.
Since connecting its first customer five years ago, Fibrus has successfully done that, with a network that now extends to over 315,000 homes and businesses in Northern Ireland, enabled through a combination of public funding and significant commercial investment, and 66,000 in Cumbria, with over 92,000 customers.
Business growth has been fuelled by putting the customer and the community at the heart of the business and the growth strategy. Fibrus is eradicating the digital divide by delivering market-leading fibre broadband speeds, high-quality products at an affordable price. Coupled with local customer service and increased brand awareness the company has built a solid corporate reputation among key stakeholder groups.
Fibrus customer case studyJody Wilkinson, a Fibrus customer, and Director for an American construction consultancy based in Belfast and resident of County Down, has witnessed first-hand the transformative impact of faster internet speeds on his household and the wider Northern Irish community. “Before Fibrus, our internet speeds were a dismal 1.5-2 Mbps, which was horrible,” Wilkinson recalls. “When Fibrus started its rollout in Northern Ireland about six months into the pandemic, it was a game-changer for us. “I work from home at least two days a week, managing projects across Europe and India. The reliable connection from Fibrus means no more dropped calls or video freezes. It has made my career much easier to manage from home. “We do not need to be based in London anymore. Businesses can thrive here with the same efficiency, helping to grow our local economy,” he explains. |
Project Stratum
Project Stratum has been an integral part of Fibrus’ journey, which has already made gigabit-capable broadband available to more than 77,000 homes and businesses across Northern Ireland on an open-access network. It represents Northern Ireland’s largest-ever public investment in telecommunications infrastructure. The £200 million broadband intervention project to connect regional towns across Northern Ireland was awarded to Fibrus in November 2020, less than a year after being founded, and just months after the first global lockdown. As government awarded contracts go, it has been a huge success story – not only for Fibrus but for Northern Ireland.
Fibrus is well on target to improve access to 81,000 premises across 117 towns by June 2025, on time and within budget, which is a great achievement for us. Beyond this, it is the legacy it is leaving in each of these towns and the longer lasting impact on these communities that has moved the dial in terms of what success really looks like.
Communities are at the heart of everything Fibrus does. It is committed to building, fostering, and supporting connected communities; those rural and regional locations that are home to generations of families.
One of its proudest accomplishments is the positive social impact the company has on the communities it serves. Through the Fibrus Community Fund, it has invested £175,000 in Northern Ireland, funding projects to address digital poverty in rural areas, benefiting over 100 community organisations to date. The funding provided enables these organisations to deliver more services to support their members. For example, the fund reduced the impact of social isolation of older people through providing funding for mobile phones and training, allowing members to make meaningful connections with their family, through digital technology.
Sport reaches every corner of Northern Ireland and is a unifier of communities. Recognising this, Fibrus launched the Play it Forward Fund in 2023, to support children’s grassroots sports. By the end of 2024 it will have invested £100,000 in this initiative. In year one of Play it Forward, the fund supported 50 grass roots sports clubs, supporting almost 7,000 children.
On a broader economic level, Project Stratum has made a significant contribution to regional connectivity, with Northern Ireland blazing the trail in terms of coverage in the UK – with full fibre coverage sitting at 91 per cent compared to a UK average of 61 per cent.
This impressive statistic should not be underestimated. Network connectivity improves the ability of rural communities to retain talent, and live, work, and do business in the area, providing people with the same opportunities they would have in cities.
By increasing Northern Ireland’s connectivity through Project Stratum, Fibrus has helped improve Northern Ireland’s offer to the skilled workforce that has left our shores, possibly never to return.
As a result, there have been many anecdotal accounts which point to the fact that the brain drain issue, which has been facing Northern Ireland for decades, may well be in reverse; due in part to the strong levels of connectivity across the region which supports remote and hybrid working. To have built something that could potentially have this long lasting and positive impact on the wider Northern Irish economy is something Fibrus is extremely proud of.
Project Stratum is managed by the Department for the Economy, with £175 million of UK Government funding allocated, along with additional funding of £25 million from the Department for the Economy and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. The public subsidy combined with Fibrus’ investment brings the overall total investment in Project Stratum to around £250 million.
T: 028 9099 3230
W: www.fibrus.com
