AQW 28432/17-22


Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim


Tabled Date: 20/01/2022
Answered On Date: 25/01/2022
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy whether the timetable for the roll-out of Project Stratum in Randalstown will be delayed due to the addition of 8,500 premises to the scheme.


Answer:
As you are aware, my Department has secured the necessary additional capital funding of £32m in order to bring a further 8,469 premises into Project Stratum, including 8 premises in Antrim. The inclusion of these additional premises will bring the total number of premises in Antrim to benefit from Project Stratum to 280.
The total number of premises in Randalstown to benefit from Project Stratum remains at 335, with no additional premises being brought in to scope as part of the further 8,469 premises recently announced.
Please note, in order to accurately answer your queries my Department has only considered premises within the settlement development limits of Antrim and Randalstown, not premises that might be considered in the wider areas.
The inclusion of the additional premises will not change the deployment schedule for those premises originally included in Project Stratum. Where it is possible to do so without impacting the existing deployment plan, additional premises will be addressed at the same time as the original planned build for that area. However, to ensure that the existing deployment plan remains on schedule, the contractor for Project Stratum, Fibrus Networks Ltd, considers it necessary to address some premises as an extension to the original plan.
The roll-out of the new full fibre network to reach all 85,000 premises, including the additional 8,469 premises being brought into scope, will continue across four extended quarters of network build, with Fibrus Networks expected to complete full deployment by March 2025.
Information on the deployment date for specific premises can be found at www.hyperfastni.com. Please note premises may benefit prior to the date provided on the Hyperfast NI website, so my Department recommends citizens check the website regularly.