Siro, the broadband company created as a joint venture between ESB and Vodafone, is rolling out its high-speed fibre network in Longford town as part of a broader move to make gigabit fibre connections more available across Ireland.

Officially launched yesterday (16 May) by Minister for State for Local Government and Planning, and Longford-Westmeath Peter Burke, TD, the €4m network will extend Siro’s services to more than 4,000 premises in the midland town.

Built on ESB’s electricity infrastructure, Siro’s broadband network is already available in 64 towns across Ireland, including the neighbouring midland towns of Mullingar, Athlone and Portlaoise.

Overall, 430,000 homes and businesses have access to the Siro high-speed fibre broadband network – with the number expected to go up to 770,000 in the next four years.

“Since the pandemic, people have begun to recognise the value that a dependable, fibre connection can add to one’s way of life or business,” said Siro CEO John Keaney, adding that with Siro’s gigabit broadband, people can stay connected to the internet without lag at all times.

“Siro’s fibre broadband will also attract further investment to the town and support local business to grow and develop particularly through greater use of digital technologies.”

Minister Burke, who is also a TD representing Longford-Westmeath, said that the move is a part of a key Government commitment to achieve balanced regional development with emphasis on growth outside of Dublin.

“High-speed broadband facilitated by Siro will enable Longford businesses to maintain a level playing field and will act as another great reason to attract jobs and opportunities to Longford and the wider Midlands region.”

Ireland ahead of EU in gigabit roll-out

News of this roll-out came just a day ahead of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day being celebrated today.

It marks the founding of the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency responsible for global matters relating to information and communication technologies.

Marking the occasion, Minister of Communications at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Ossian Smyth, TD, praised Ireland’s National Broadband Plan and said that the country is on course to surpass its neighbours in providing gigabit fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband.

“Our target is to complete the delivery of digital connectivity to all connected hubs and all schools by 2023; for all Irish households and businesses to be covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028; and for all populated areas to be covered by 5G by no later than 2030,” he said.

Even though Ireland has a lower population density than most other EU countries, data from the European Commission shows that it is a strong performer when it comes to gigabit-enabled broadband.

According to the data, 58pc of Irish households could access a broadband speed of 1 gigabit or more as of June 2020 – seven percentage points ahead of the EU 27 average of 51pc.

This is despite the fact that Ireland has a much higher rural population than the rest of the EU, standing at 39pc compared to the EU’s 16pc – meaning that the cost and difficulty of roll-out is higher here than elsewhere.

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