Broadband: Northern Ireland
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the National Wealth Fund's promotion of rural broadband development in Northern Ireland will include financial support to inward investors.
Answered by Lucy Rigby
The NWF invests on a commercial basis to address market gaps and crowd in private capital, including in digital and technologies. It has a dedicated director based in Northern Ireland to support its view of markets across the region and opened a Belfast office in December 2024.
In April 2022 the National Wealth Fund, then the UK Infrastructure Bank, provided a £50 million loan to support Fibrus to deliver high-capacity broadband to rural homes and businesses across Northern Ireland. As of December 2025, this investment has helped Fibrus bring full fibre capability to over 330,000 homes across Northern Ireland.
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