Ardee to become a fibre town

Ardee received a major boost earlier today when it was announced as one of three new fibre towns, as part of a €2.5m investment in broadband infrastructure.

Ardee

Network operator enet is creating three new ‘Fibre to the Business’ (FTTB) networks in Ardee, Loughrea and Kilkenny.

The infrastructure is provided through enet’s fibredirect initiative, which replaces older copper networks with fibre optic cables that deliver directly into premises.

The direct connection allows businesses to access speeds of up to 250Mbs, which frees it from bandwidth bottlenecks. Delivering bandwidth directly into the premises means that broadband speeds advertised will be guaranteed rather than the ‘up to’ claims made by service providers over copper networks.

In a statement, enet chairman David McCour said the expansion was a “significant day for Irish telecoms.”

“Loughrea, Ardee and Kilkenny can look forward to gaining a significant competitive advantage in terms of keeping, developing and attracting new companies and new jobs, driving innovation and acting as a platform for economic stimulus in the localities,” said Mr McCourt.

Local Senator Mary Moran attended the announcement by Minister Pat Rabbitte and enet this morning and welcomed the news.

She said: “I am delighted that Ardee has been selected for this significant investment and will become a new fibredirect town.  This investment will see fibre brought into every business in Ardee and will enable businesses access to superfast fibre broadband.  This new ‘fibre to the business’ network planned for Ardee will give businesses the ability to access broadband with access speeds up to 250Mbs.

“I believe this investment will have a positive impact for business owners in Ardee and the local economy.  The ‘fibre to the business’ network will provide businesses with further options in which to expand on the digital market and provide suitable broadband speed and access in which to do their business. enet CEO, Conal Henry has assured that enet will be actively engaging with the businesses in Ardee over the next few weeks.”

The former schoolteacher said it was important that other towns in the county were also brought up to speed in terms of broadband in the area.

“There are still many towns and areas in Co Louth with poor broadband access and speed.  Much of our work and communication is now online and we need to continue to provide equality across the country in this area.

“This announcement by Minister Rabbitte and enet is very welcome for Ardee and I hope to see continued investment of this nature in Co Louth going forward,” she said.

Rural areas to benefit from broadband roll-out

Minister of State and local TD Fergus O’Dowd welcomed the announcement

A number of rural areas of the county are set to benefit from high-speed broadband following last week’s announcement by Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte of a major infrastructure roll-out.

Amongst the areas set to benefit include Blackrock, Dromin, Grangebellew, Greenore, Jenkinstown, Kilcurly, Readypenny, Smarmore and Stabannon, as well as other areas in the south of the county such as Monasterboice, Baltray and Beaulieu.

The news was welcomed by local TD Fergus O’Dowd, who said that broadband was a necessity in modern Ireland and should be available in all areas.

“The announcement of a major broadband build out to rural, with fibre as a cornerstone, under the National Broadband Plan means that a State-led intervention will ensure that quality broadband will be delivered to areas in Louth even if there is no commercial package available” he said.

“In order to definitively address Ireland’s connectivity challenges the Government has recognised that the focus must now shift to a solution with fibre as the key component underpinning whatever technology delivers the broadband service (fixed or wireless).

“We have identified areas that have locations that currently have no fibre or will not receive fibre under planned interventions by the commercial sector (including ESB, eircom and others).

“Other towns or areas may not be on the list because there are plans by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services in these areas.

“Consumers in these towns or areas may not be aware of planned commercial services.

“The provision of this essential network infrastructure should remove existing cost barriers preventing commercial operators from providing high speed services to end users.

“In essence, we will provide the infrastructure necessary to enable commercial operators to deliver high-speed broadband directly to those who need it.

“Once the fibre is installed, there will be a pause to allow the opportunity for commercial operators to invest in the provision of high speed broadband services in the areas served by the fibre, after which the State will invest in those areas where commercial operators continue to have a challenging business case.

“There will also be a demand-based scheme where consumers and businesses can come together and request connection to the fibre network.

“It is envisaged that such a scheme will accelerate the extension of the planned fibre build out to areas outside those towns and villages initially targeted.

“The speeds achieveable for each user with fibre will now not be dependent on the distance from the local exchange, as was previously the case.

“For consumers, for example, these speeds will now enable you to watch high-definition television online, no matter what other online activities are taking place on the home network at the same time.”

No date has been given for work to begin on the project but Minister Rabbitte said that he will publish a comprehensive implementation strategy later this year.