Excellent infrastructure

From Northern Ireland there is easy access to a European Union market of 500 million people, and connections to the global market are excellent.

Renowned communications

Northern Ireland’s communications infrastructure is renowned as state-of-the-art. It enjoys international connectivity at a very competitive cost.

Fast roads

Fast road network with minimal levels of congestion brings most of Europe within 24-48 hours.

Busy ports

Between them the ports of Belfast, Londonderry, Larne and Warrenpoint provide some 150 fast ferry and freight sailings per week to Great Britain, Europe and beyond.

The Port of Belfast is the busiest port in Ireland. Over 60 per cent of Northern Ireland’s sea-borne trade sets sail from it.

Frequent flights

Three airports deal with over five million passengers a year. Belfast International Airport runs daily scheduled flights to destinations such as New York, London, Rome, Berlin and Amsterdam.

Leading edge telecoms

Northern Ireland enjoys a state-of-the-art communications infrastructure and many advantages in the telecoms sector.

The country has a strong record of staying at the forefront of communications technology.

• The first region in Europe to achieve 100 per cent broadband coverage
• Set to become the first region in the UK to complete the 21 CN network upgrade (high speed and versatile communications network designed for devices of the future)
• The region provides a fully digital, fully fibre optic communications network

Northern Ireland also benefits from its own Internet backbone exchange, while telecoms costs are among the lowest in Europe.

This means investors have access to a truly leading-edge telecoms infrastructure and access to a burgeoning telecoms sector. The region’s compact size also makes it an ideal test-bed for new communications technology.

A competitive market

Northern Ireland’s telecoms industry is a highly deregulated and competitive market with over 70 operators. Deregulation means better service and lower costs.

There are four fixed network service providers in the market: BT, Cable & Wireless Communications, ntl and Eircom.