Telecommunications giant BT said it was making a major investment in training its staff in Northern Ireland, as it locates its digital business support to the province.

The company announced in July that it was repatriating customer service operations from India after a global review.

BT said it had selected Northern Ireland as the location for UK digital care business support and specialist enquiries.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster announced BT’s investment yesterday, which includes £2m from Invest NI. Over 600 BT customer care advisors in Northern Ireland will be re-trained as the company moves from telephone customer service to digital communication channels, such as email or Twitter.

BT centres in Enniskillen and Londonderry will specialise in digital communication, while |employees in the Belfast centre will specialise in billing and |customer enquiries.

The Minister said: “This is an investment which will cement the future of BT in Northern Ireland. BT recognises that its people here have excellent skills levels and are open to the opportunity to retrain to meet the needs of changing customer expectations.”

Chris Clark, chief executive officer at BT, said: “We are delighted with the positive outcome for Northern Ireland following the global review, and are confident that this investment in digital care will help future proof our operations here.”

BT employs over 3,000 people in Northern Ireland, including 600 call centre staff.