Thousands of customers in Northern Ireland remain without internet connection as a result of damage caused during Storm Éowyn, two weeks after winds of up to 90mph brought disruption across Ireland.
As of last Thursday, broadband provider Fibrus confirmed that around 6,000 of its customers were still without connection, while 50% of those impacted by fibre damage have been reconnected.
Openreach, which manages the majority of the UK’s telephone and broadband network, said it was “difficult to quantify the exact end-customer impact” given that a number of providers use their network, including the companies with the largest market share in Northern Ireland – BT and Sky.
More: Stormont Executive allocates almost £20m to deal with impact of Storm Eowyn
With restoration efforts continuing, the lack of connectivity has been particularly hard on those customers in rural areas who rely on internet to get in touch with others.
Charlotte Caldwell, who lives in Co Tyrone, said they have been living in “fear” for almost two weeks – her 19-year-old son Billy has complex special needs and a life-threatening form of epilepsy.
Her area has also been impacted by telephone masts being brought down, meaning she has to travel to the nearest town just to get signal.
“It’s a nightmare. We just feel totally isolated. Billy and I live rural, about two and a half miles from Castlederg,” she said.
“The position we’re left in, it means that if anything happens to Billy, I cannot call an ambulance.
“You’re living, really, on eggshells.
“We have absolutely no communication line at all to the outside world,” she added.
“If you had some sort of communication you could at least message somebody to try and get them to call an ambulance for you, but we have got nothing.”
The lack of internet has also impacted Billy, who relies on devices which need connection.
“Billy does his little iPad that he uses as part of his ongoing educational programme,” Ms Caldwell said.
“Obviously, we can’t access that. He keeps going and lifting the iPad but obviously it’s not going to work because there’s no internet connection.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. It’s really having a detrimental effect on our life.”
Ms Caldwell faces a further week without connection, after being informed via text message by her provider, Fibrus, that she may not be reconnected until February 17.
She also said she has not been made aware of their vulnerable customer list – despite informing the company of her son’s condition and need for connection over five phone calls last week.
“They never once mentioned to me that there was such a thing as a vulnerable list, which I find quite alarming. It’s concerning.”
Fibrus said that it endeavours to “prioritise vulnerable customers that are known to [them]” and that they have a process in place for customers to register via their call centre.
As we work to get our customers back online after Storm Éowyn, the safety of our staff, our contractors and our...
Posted by Fibrus on Thursday 30 January 2025
“Our customer care team are trained to identify vulnerable customers and to provide the additional level of assistance they may require.”
The company said it “understands” the importance of internet connection and that it has over 300 people in the field attempting to reconnect its customers.
“This task is heavily reliant on other infrastructure providers, in particular NIE and Openreach,” they added.
“Customers who have been out of service due to damaged fibre are entitled to compensation.”
