Broadband speeds of up to 1,000mbps on the way to Dundalk thanks to ESB and Vodafone venture

ESB and Vodafone today announced a new joint venture which will see them invest €450m in building a 100% fibre broadband network across Ireland.

The new network will offer speeds of 200mpbs to 1,000mpbs, propelling Ireland into the ranks of the world’s fastest broadband countries.

Dundalk and Drogheda are amongst 50 towns set to benefit from the new roll out first of all, with 500,000 premises across the country set to benefit initially.

Roll-out is expected to take place in the coming months subject to European Commission approval, with the first customers set to avail of the new high speeds from the start of next year.

The fibre will be deployed on ESB’s existing overhead and underground infrastructure, ensuring a fast and cost efficient roll-out to every county in Ireland and reversing the digital divide between the capital and regional towns.

Unfortunately it won’t be available in towns with less than 4,000 premises so rural areas are unlikely to benefit.

At the launch it was revealed that 43% of broadband in Ireland today has speeds of less than 10mbps. At present the fastest broadband available in Dundalk is Eircom’s efibre, which only operates at “up to” 100mpbs – something few actually ever experience.

Castletown a graveyard for broadband

 

Local photography business Pro Shutterblade has taken to Twitter to complain about the fact that Castletown is set to be omitted from Eircom’s roll out of its high-speed eFibre broadband service.

Last week local TD Peter Fitzpatrick revealed that 10,000 homes in Dundalk would have access to higher broadband speeds from August but it appears Castletown is not one of these areas, with Pro Shutterblade complaining that the next generation broadband has not even made it there as yet.

It used to be said that if you hadn’t a relative in Castletown Cemetery then you weren’t really from Dundalk but nowadays it appears that the area is a bit of a graveyard for broadband. Are any other areas being omitted? Let us know…

Previously: Broadband boost for the area

Broadband boost for the area

25,000 homes in County Louth, including 10,000 in Dundalk, will have faster broadband by next September, according to local TD Peter Fitzpatrick.

The Fine Gael TD met with Eircom earlier this week to discuss their plans for the county and he feels this commitment from them will act as a boost for both businesses and householders in accessing high-speed internet.

“It’s hard for people who live in the bigger cities to imagine the connectivity speeds that are still being endured by homes and businesses in other parts of the country, like Louth. This impediment is putting whole areas at a disadvantage and hindering growth and our future development,” said Deputy Fitzpatrick.

“News that eircom is set to invest €1.5 billion nationally in broadband infrastructure over the next five years as part of its Network for a Nation programme will be welcomed, as in many parts of the country it is considered to be long overdue. This investment aims to bridge the broadband gap that currently exists through what the company has described as the most comprehensive roll-out of fibre broadband network in the history of the State.

“As part of this plan, Louth is set to benefit from the fact that high speed broadband, or eFibre, will be available to 24,300 homes in the county by next September; with the first phase to be delivered as early as next week.

“In Dundalk, 10,000 homes will be able to access eFibre by August; in Ardee 2,300 homes will have access by September; and from next Monday high-speed broadband will be available to 12,000 homes in Drogheda.

“This will come as tremendous news to the families and business owners in the Louth area who have been struggling to cope with dial-up and sluggish connections for years. If we are to be able to compete on the world stage in terms of providing services, growing our SMEs and keeping up with what’s going on generally, we need to ensure that we are operating on an equal footing,” he said.

Fibre broadband currently reaches around 230,000 premises across the country, with this figure set to reach 1.2 billion by June 2015.

Deputy Fitzpatrick said it was important that Louth benefitted from that.

“High speed connection is critical for the people of Louth as our businesses are competing with those across the border. To give ourselves a fighting chance we have to get our broadband up to speed, so to speak, to ensure that everyone is facilitated in playing their part in our economic recovery and in getting the country back on track.”