BROADBAND INFLUENCING HOME BUYING IN NORTHERN IRELAND - BT SURVEY ‘Location, location, location’ is usually the most commonly used phrase when it comes to property searches. However, having access to good broadband speeds is now up there as one of the deciding factors for prospective homebuyers and tenants in Northern Ireland, according to a new survey commissioned by BT’s NI Networks. The results of the survey revealed that three out of five people (63%) said that having fibre broadband in their household was very important, rising to seven out of 10 (71%) among 18 to 35 year olds. The survey also showed that six out of ten people (60%) would be put off from a property when moving to a new house because of poor or slow broadband. As people across NI make increasing use of their broadband – with nearly a quarter (22%) of respondents being online for between 4 and
6 hours a day and close to half (41%) for more than 6 hours a day – the survey also shows that many people are doing their homework and checking available broadband speeds before they move. More than half (60%) of 18-35-year-old respondents, who make up the bulk of future homeowners, stated that they would check broadband speeds in advance of buying a property. 54% of those in this age bracket also said they would pay ‘a lot or a little’ more for property if it had access to Superfast fibre broadband, showing the importance of internet speeds for people in the region. Frank McManus, BT’s Head of Wholesale Sales and Marketing in Northern Ireland, said: “As the use of broadband continues to grow – with 82 per cent using it for social media at least several times a week, 80 per cent for
email, 63 per cent for watching films or TV and 58 per cent for downloading or streaming music - understanding what greater download speeds can deliver is critical. “Better download speeds make all these activities faster and, with more people within households using devices, from smart TVs and laptops to phones and gaming consoles, speed and reliability are essential if you don’t want to slow down other users in the home.” Samuel Dickey MRICS, Partner at Simon Brien Residential, said: “We are seeing an increase in buyer enquiries about broadband speeds, as so many people rely on fast internet in their everyday lives. Whether working from home, shopping online, gaming and entertainment, fast internet is crucial for the enjoyment of your property.”
BOOSTING PLAYERS’ PERFORMANCE AT THE WORLD CUP STATSports is one of the world’s leading performance technology companies based in Newry. Co-founded by Sean O’Connor and Alan Clarke, STATSports’s revolutionary monitoring devices track athletes’ performance during practice sessions and games to provide direct and invaluable real-time feedback to coaching staff and players. In a little over ten years, the company has earned a global reputation and now works with many of the biggest sporting organisations including the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, MLS, NFL, NBA, Rugby Union and NHL. BT provide STATSports with a BT NET dedicated and private internet circuit, combined with a hosted BT Cloud Voice phone system, which together provide capacity and flexibility – both crucial for the growing business. The cloud-based solution can work across multiple sites, thereby helping to futureproof the business infrastructure. It is BT’s cloud connectivity that instantly streams the individual performance data to coaching and medical teams to help them stay on top of their game. Paul McKernan, CIO of STATSports says: “It is vital that we are able to deal directly with clubs across the world in real time and the cloud technology that BT Business in Northern Ireland provides enables us to do just that. “By installing the BT NET dedicated and private internet circuit, we have capacity, flexibility and, crucially, the reliability which have helped us to become the world leaders in athletic performance monitoring that we are today. It’s a product and service that delivers what it promises and we couldn’t be more delighted with it.”
Sean O’Connor, Co-founder of STATSports with Ciaran McLaughlin from BT Business in Northern Ireland and Paul McKernan, CIO of STATSports.
The turning point for the company’s phenomenal growth came with the release of its ground-breaking Apex product with GPS technology. This game-changing small electronic device is inserted into the shirts or training vests worn by athletes. It measures every step, every movement – including heart rate, running speeds, distances covered and fatigue levels. Ciaran McLaughlin from BT Business Northern Ireland says: “Using the data, coaches are better able to plan strategy and tactics, as well as checking
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whether players are fit for a game or showing signs of fatigue. As coaching staff work to secure a competitive advantage, getting this data in real time is vital and BT Business is delighted to play an integral role in successfully delivering that.”