Broadband boost for Irish business

Irish companies are to benefit from a better broadband service following the announcement of a new undersea cable.

The £28 million contract, which has been awarded to Hibernia Atlantic Limited, will see a cable laid between Portrush and Hibernia's north transatlantic cable, 22 miles from the top of Northern Ireland.

It will be the first direct telecommunications link between Ireland and North America.

The scheme - dubbed Project Kelvin - was co-financed as part of the EU's INTERREG IVA, in partnership with the Irish Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources and the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

Stormont enterprise minister Arlene Foster said that the investment will "greatly improve competition in the international telecommunications market".

She added: "Northern Ireland businesses are competing more than ever for business in global markets.

"This project will deliver the kind of international telecommunications companies located in London, Amsterdam, Dublin and New York already depend on."

The link is scheduled to be completed by no later than March 2010.