Irish Central Border Area Network

The Irish Central Border Area Network (ICBAN) Ltd was founded in 1995 to promote cross-border co-operation and communication, at a Local Government level. ICBAN has recognised that some of the poorest broadband and mobile connections can be found in the Central Border Region, on both sides of the Ireland-Northern Ireland border. Since 2012, the organisation has been actively working with and engaging to help bring about much-needed technological and infrastructure improvements across the area. This has driven a number of initiatives to investigate, analyse and profile the value of broadband infrastructure improvements. These improvements are necessary to help local communities and businesses realise the benefits that stand to accrue from digital and technological advances. ICBAN has drawn upon the specialist technical expertise of The Bit Commons, to produce a series of reports for both Northern Ireland and Ireland. In 2016 and 2017, ICBAN, together with The Bit Commons prepared the 'Fibre at a Crossroads' Part 1 and Part II reports. The 'Fibre at a Crossroads - Part 1' report recommended completion of "true up" (or audit) of the level of DfE subsidies and the actual capital funding contributions from BT. The report highlighted that if actual costs incurred on broadband projects were lower than anticipated and subscriber take-up was higher than anticipated, then public subsidies paid to BT were likely to have been higher than necessary. ICBAN's view was that, if that additional subsidy could be recovered from BT, then funds would be available to invest further into the rural areas of NI.