Committee Calls for BT to Make RTE Catch-Up Service Available in Northern Ireland

The Assembly’s Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee has called on British Telecom (BT) to make the RTÉ Player available to their broadband customers in Northern Ireland. Currently, those living in Northern Ireland may access the RTÉ catch-up service if the broadband provider can identify them as living in Northern Ireland--something that BT has not been able to achieve.

Chairperson of the ETI Committee, Patsy McGlone MLA said: “The RTÉ catch-up service, on RTÉ Player, is available for everyone living on the island of Ireland. The problem for those using BT Broadband here is that, to date, they have not been able to identify people as living in Northern Ireland.  This failure has denied local people the services that to which they are entitled and which other broadband providers have made available.

“This is a serious issue for many people, particularly those living in rural areas, for whom BT Broadband may be the best way they can access broadband services.

“We have been briefed by BT on this issue earlier this month and we have requested that BT provides us with detailed information on the technical barriers to providing local customers with access to the RTÉ catch-up service. We are looking for BT to give us an indication of what we as a Committee can do to aid this, and the timeframe for addressing this issue.”

ENDS