Northern Ireland

RTÉ: Solution to online access in north 'lies with internet providers'

 RTE has said northern viewers blocked from watching programmes online need to contact their internet provider directly
 RTE has said northern viewers blocked from watching programmes online need to contact their internet provider directly  RTE has said northern viewers blocked from watching programmes online need to contact their internet provider directly

NORTHERN viewers experiencing difficulties accessing RTÉ programmes online need to contact their internet provider, the broadcaster has told MLAs.

Senior RTÉ figures appearing before the enterprise, trade and investment committee said it would then try to solve problems with the company.

Although some content - such as sports events - is blocked outside the Republic due to legal rights, other programmes on the RTÉ player can also inaccessible to northern web users whose IP (Internet Protocol) address shows up as the UK rather than Northern Ireland.

Among the six 'guiding principles' in RTÉ's Public Service Statement is that it will "provide for and be responsive to the interests, needs and concerns of the whole community on the island of Ireland".

Múirne Laffan, from RTÉ, said the cross-border problem had been ongoing since the broadcaster launched its catch-up service in 2008 and was "unusual" within Europe.

"From RTÉ's perspective we are committed to making services accessible to all users across the island of Ireland," she said.

"In terms of sport, the GAA is the only one that sells rights on an all-Ireland basis, and other sports, such as the Champions League, aren't available."

Lucy Campbell from the broadcaster said around 7,000 people regularly access the RTÉ player from the north, with around half of programmes "in an average week" limited to the Republic only.

Michael Kennedy, senior infrastructure engineer at RTÉ, said internet service providers (ISPs) use a wide range of addresses and that can make it impossible to pinpoint addresses within the UK.

He urged people affected to "ask the ISP to get in touch with us and we can put it on a list of Northern Ireland addresses, or get them to give you a static address".

"When an ISP contacts us we try to solve it for all their customers."

Mr Kennedy added: "A non-IP address system of identification, such as billing information, would be open to abuse."

The RTÉ representatives said there have been "varying degrees of success" in resolving the problem, with some internet service providers more co-operative than others.

Pressed by SDLP East Derry MLA John Dallat for further details, Mr Kennedy replied: "The most difficult communication has been with BT. They explained that their system is on a whole-UK basis and said they would not be able to easily separate NI addresses.

"BT requested that RTÉ pay the cost of any changes to the network for a separate NI address. We weren't happy with that."

Sinn Féin South Belfast MLA Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said: "This would be the same BT that operates on an all-Ireland basis, of course."

At the last sitting of the committee before the assembly breaks up for elections, members agreed to write to BT about the issue.

Mr Ó Muilleoir added: "BT is a huge force in this community and this society. We would like them to be more helpful here."