Council seeks meeting on cable

Derry City Council want to meet with Arlene Foster urgently

Derry City Council has asked for an urgent meeting with the trade minister, Arlene Foster, to discuss the location for a telecommunications operation.

Hibernia Atlantic are to build a telehouse station in Coleraine near the landing site for a transatlantic cable on the north coast.

Politicians in Derry have claimed the telehouse was planned for the city.

But Ms Foster said Derry was not disadvantaged by the decision to site the facility in Coleraine.

"Hiberna Atlantic's bid met all the department's requirements including providing access to the new international link in Londonderry, Letterkenny and Monaghan and providing the same each of these locations at the same cost to the end user.

"The bid from Hibernia Atlantic also included providing access to the direct international link in a further 10 towns and cities, making 13 in total, eight in Northern Ireland and five in the Republic of Ireland," she said.

"All the services available in the telehouse will be available at each of the 13 access points at exactly the same cost.

"This provides an entirely level playing field in terms of the potential benefits of this project.

"Londonderry is in no way disadvantaged and is in an excellent position to exploit the benefits of this project."