ENDA KENNY HAS announced that construction is now underway on SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic broadband network in Castlebar and that services will become available from December.
The Taoiseach made the announcement this evening at an event in Lough Lannagh Holiday Village, in association with Mayo County Council.
The 100% fibre-optic broadband network is being rolled out in 50 towns nationwide, and will enable residents and businesses to load websites faster as well as upload and download images and videos quicker.
For context, a high definition film would take one hour to download with a 10mbps connection – with this new connection, it will take 30 seconds.
Faster internet connections benefit small to medium enterprises in particular, as it allows them to connect with potential customers abroad, as well as market and advertise on a more regular basis.
“SIRO’s investment will put Castlebar on par with broadband speeds found in major cities around the world,” the Taoiseach said at the launch.
It is especially fitting that Castlebar has been chosen as one of the first ten towns in the country to benefit from being part of SIRO’s €450million network.
This is the first SIRO roll-out in Mayo and I look forward to them progressing to their next roll-out in Westport.
“Having a good broadband service is essential in this day and age, so we are delighted to offer Castlebar residents and businesses broadband that is different and better than any other network in Ireland,” Westnet CEO and co-founder Paul Cunnane meanwhile said.
The issue of Ireland’s National Broadband Plan (NBP), and the poor quality of web access in rural parts of the country, has been a talking point since its first announcement in 2012.
In May of this year Kieran Kelly of Kelco communications described Ireland as being “a first world country with third- or fourth-world infrastructure”.
The Government has since opted to privatise the NBP and hand over full control of the infrastructure to the private sector once the 25-year contract has expired.
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