Project Stratum
A broadband infrastructure project to extend access to superfast broadband services across Northern Ireland.
| Current Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Key Contact |
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| Category | Digital Infrastructure |
Project Description
Project Stratum is a broadband infrastructure project managed by the Department for the Economy that aims to utilise public funding of £200m to extend access to superfast broadband services to 81,000 premises across Northern Ireland. The contract to make services available to the defined intervention area was awarded to Fibrus Networks in November 2020.
The target intervention area for Project Stratum is predominantly rural – 97% of the 81,000 premises eligible to benefit from this intervention lie in areas classed by NISRA as band H, meaning settlements of less than 1,000 people or open countryside. Two thirds of these premises could not access broadband services delivering speeds above 15 Mbps prior to the project’s deployment activities.
The premises to benefit from Project Stratum will be in a position to avail of gigabit-capable broadband delivered through a ‘full fibre’ solution in the form of Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). This will provide citizens with the option of availing of broadband services with speeds up to 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps) with speed packages available to consumers on an open access network.
Project Status
Project Stratum has deployed to over 95 per cent of the contracted intervention area (more than 78,000 premises), and is on track to complete deployment to all 81,000 premises by June 2025.
SIB Involvement
The development, procurement, appointment of a contractor and the delivery of Project Stratum was led by an SIB-appointed Project Director until November 2024; SIB is also providing Legal Counsel for the project, Financial Assessment expertise for phase I of the procurement; Project Development Research services (Lotting) were sourced through SIB; and the Buy Social team have engaged with the project to ensure that there is appropriate cover in the contract,
