Baroness Liz Lloyd stepped into the gleaming operations centre of Fibrus Networks yesterday, marking her first major site visit since taking up the Digital Economy Minister brief. The Belfast-based alternative network operator has emerged as Northern Ireland’s fibre connectivity champion, connecting over 81,000 premises under the ambitious Project Stratum initiative.
The ministerial visit comes as the government doubles down on its commitment to eliminate rural broadband blackspots. Fibrus secured a second major contract worth £165 million in December 2025 to extend gigabit-capable broadband to an additional 45,000 hard-to-reach premises across the province.
Project Stratum Delivers Rural Revolution
Walking through rows of network monitoring stations, Baroness Lloyd witnessed firsthand the scale of Northern Ireland’s digital transformation. Project Stratum, launched in 2021 with £165 million in public funding, has already connected remote farming communities and isolated villages that major telecoms providers had written off as commercially unviable.
“We’ve gone from having some of the worst connectivity in Europe to leading the charge on rural fibre deployment,” said Dominic Kearns, Chief Executive of Fibrus Networks. “Our teams have strung cables across sheep farms, through ancient stone walls, and up mountainsides that other operators wouldn’t touch.”
The numbers tell a compelling story. Northern Ireland now boasts 92% full fibre coverage, compared to just 67% across the UK as a whole. Rural areas that previously struggled with copper connections delivering 2-3 Mbps now access symmetrical gigabit speeds.
Economic Impact Beyond Connectivity
Margaret Henderson, who runs a pottery business from her farm near Ballycastle, experienced the transformation directly. Her property sat in a notorious connectivity desert until Fibrus engineers arrived in March 2024.
“I was uploading pottery photos to my website overnight because the connection was so slow,” Henderson explained. “Now I can livestream pottery classes to customers across Europe. My revenue has tripled since getting proper broadband.”
The economic ripple effects extend far beyond individual businesses. Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy estimates that improved rural connectivity has attracted £340 million in new investment over the past three years, with tech companies establishing satellite offices in previously overlooked towns.
Technical Excellence Drives Results
During her tour, Baroness Lloyd examined Fibrus’s network operations centre, where technicians monitor 24,000 kilometres of fibre cables in real-time. The company deploys XGS-PON technology capable of delivering 10 Gbps download speeds, future-proofing rural communities for decades ahead.
“The technical standards here match anything you’d find in Silicon Valley,” noted Dr. Sarah Mitchell, the government’s senior broadband advisor, who accompanied the ministerial delegation. “Fibrus has proven that rural deployment doesn’t mean compromising on quality.”
The network maintains 99.7% uptime across its entire footprint, despite covering some of the UK’s most challenging terrain. Engineers regularly navigate single-track roads and negotiate access with farmers whose land hasn’t seen telecommunications infrastructure for generations.
Second Phase Targets Remaining Gaps
The December 2025 contract award signals confidence in Fibrus’s delivery capabilities. Phase two will tackle Northern Ireland’s most isolated properties, including islands accessible only by boat and mountain communities where helicopter deployment becomes necessary.
James O’Sullivan, whose bed-and-breakfast near Giant’s Causeway relies heavily on online bookings, represents the target demographic for the next rollout phase. His Victorian-era property sits 800 metres from the nearest fibre connection point.
“International guests expect seamless WiFi throughout the building,” O’Sullivan said. “I’m losing bookings to competitors with better connectivity. This next phase can’t come soon enough.”
Westminster Watches Northern Ireland Model
The success of Project Stratum has captured attention across Westminster and devolved administrations. Scotland and Wales are studying Northern Ireland’s approach, particularly its blend of public funding and private sector innovation.
Baroness Lloyd’s visit included meetings with local MLAs and business leaders, gathering evidence for potential policy adjustments. The government faces pressure to accelerate rural broadband delivery across England, where progress has lagged behind Northern Ireland’s achievement.
“Northern Ireland has shown what’s possible when you combine clear political will with technical expertise,” Baroness Lloyd told assembled media. “We’re examining how to replicate this success model in other regions facing similar connectivity challenges.”
Competition Drives Innovation
Fibrus operates in an increasingly competitive landscape, with Openreach and other alternative networks expanding their own rural footprints. This competition has accelerated deployment timelines and improved service quality across the board.
The company employs 340 people directly, with construction activities supporting an estimated 800 additional jobs across Northern Ireland’s supply chain. Local engineering graduates who previously migrated to London or Dublin now find attractive career opportunities close to home.
Michael Brady, a network engineer from Derry, represents this new generation of tech talent. “Five years ago, I would have moved to Belfast or Dublin for opportunities like this. Now we’re building world-class infrastructure from our own doorstep.”
Future Challenges Remain
Despite the progress, challenges persist. Planning permission delays, wayleave negotiations with landowners, and skilled labour shortages continue to impact deployment schedules. Fibrus estimates that regulatory streamlining could accelerate rollout timelines by 15-20%.
The company is also preparing for the next technological leap, with early trials of 25G PON technology already underway. This positions Northern Ireland to lead Europe in next-generation fibre capabilities.
As rural businesses and communities increasingly depend on reliable high-speed connectivity, Northern Ireland’s fibre revolution promises to reshape the province’s economic geography for decades to come.
