NI communities to compete in £30m 5G rural rollout

Rural communities in Northern Ireland will compete in a £30m rollout of superfast 5G.

Up to 10 rural locations across the UK will be chosen to test 5G applications through the Rural Connected Communities competition.

Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan launched the competition on Tuesday to help rural areas "seize" 5G opportunities.

5G technology offers mobile speeds 10 to 20 times faster than previous generations.

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Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ms Morgan said "resilient mobile phone coverage" was important.

She said up to 10 projects could bid to test 5G connectivity in their area through the project, which would be useful for "agriculture, tourism, homework".

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Julian Smith welcomed the competition as "an excellent opportunity to ensure that rural communities are also equipped to embrace the opportunities of the digital age".

Applications for the competition close on 25 October 2019.

Kate Clifford, from the Rural Community Network, said the competition was "positive and should be welcomed" but cautioned the deadline did not give communities and businesses much time to prepare an application.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, she added: "We have very frustrated communities who live without digital broadband, but we have very resilient rural communities.

"We could have some really innovative solutions."

Tom Watson, deputy Labour leader, said the government "must take bolder, faster action".

"This funding falls far short of the ambitious roll-out we need to boost our digital infrastructure nationwide.

"5G and full fibre will be the basis of the innovative, green technologies that will underpin our future economy, but the UK's digital infrastructure is lagging embarrassingly behind", he said.