BT has signed a deal with iBub Broadband, Northern Irelands’ only broadband provider with one hundred percent coverage, in a move that will see the telecoms giant enter the retail satellite broadband market.
It comes as part of the recently announced UK Government scheme to offer subsidised satellite broadband to homes and businesses with internet connections of less than 2 Mb.
The satellite scheme, which opened in December 2015, will see the government provide funding for the capital cost of equipment and professional installation, which could amount to a value of around £350 per end user.
iBub will be offering a number of packages, ranging from a basic service with 10 Mbps download speeds and a usage allowance of 10 GB, to ‘super-fast’ satellite broadband services of up to 30 Mbps.
On celebrating the new commercial agreement with BT, Thomas O’Hagan, Sales Director at iBub says: “This scheme is excellent news for households and businesses that currently have less than 2 Mbps broadband. The cost for hardware and installation has always been a cost to far for customers, but now with this subsidy they don’t need to carry those costs.
“Satellite broadband advances have made it a viable alternative to slow landline broadband. This commitment from the Government will hopefully help get people in Northern Ireland up to speed.”
“We want our customers to experience the best that there is to offer at their location. Satellite broadband acts as that option in the interim whilst the fibre roll out continues and we have a free fibre switch guarantee in place for when that day arrives for them.
This new scheme comes alongside the government's Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) satellite broadband trial initiative, which is aiming to bring superfast broadband coverage (30 Mbps) to 95% of the UK by 2017. iBub are currently offering this scheme to homes throughout Antrim and Fermanagh. This new UK wide scheme enables homes in all counties of Northern Ireland to apply.
Further information is available at www.ibub.co.uk/satellitescheme or by calling 028 2522 0000.
