Mayo is getting a €17m. broadband upgrade

OPEN eir has announced it is making significant progress in upgrading coverage across Mayo as part of its €400 million investment programme to bring high-speed fibre broadband to communities across the country.

Currently, over 33,000 homes and businesses in 32 communities in Mayo can access high-speed fibre broadband as a result of a major multi-year investment programme by open eir.

The rollout continues to make significant progress with new areas being connected each month to Ireland’s largest high-speed open access fibre broadband network.

Ferrybridge, Carrowmorelacken and Ballycastle are among the latest communities in Mayo to go live on the open eir network with 29 other locations already connected with speeds of up to 100Mbs.

These locations include Ayle, Balla, Ballina, Ballinrobe, Ballyglass, Ballyhaunis, Ballyvary, Belcarra, Bohola, Castlebar, Charlestown, Claremorris, Cong, Crossmolina, Foxford, Kilkelly, Killala, Kilmaine, Kiltimagh, Knock, Ireland West Airport Airport, Knockmore, Liscarney, Louisburgh, Murrisk, Partry, Shrule, Swinford and Westport.

Building on this, open eir plans to extend its high speed fibre broadband network with speeds of up to 100Mbps to Ballindine (late August 2016), Belmullet, Cloonagh, Glenamoy, Laherdane and Newport.

While up to now the rollout of high-speed broadband has concentrated mainly in towns and villages in Mayo, in recent weeks open eir has commenced a major rollout of high-speed fibre broadband to rural parts of Mayo.

These areas are largely composed of one-off housing and farms. In the next three years this “Fibre to the Home” broadband rollout programme will deliver world-class broadband speeds of up to 1,000Mbps to over 16,500 homes and businesses across rural areas of the county

Rural townlands of Murrisk and Westport will have access to the 1,000Mbps service by early next year

To achieve this open eir is rolling out over 1,400 kilometres of fibre broadband in Mayo direct to peoples’ homes, using its extensive pole network.

In addition to the trial site of Belcarra where this new 1,000Mbps technology was tested successfully last year, the following additional rural communities will also have access to 1,000Mbps broadband before 2020.

Achill Sound, Attymass, Ballycroy, Ballyheane, Bangor Erris, Barnatra, Bekan Cross, Binghamstown, Blacksod, Bonniconlon, Cloghans, Cross, Currane, Dooleeg, Garranard, Geesala, Glenisland, Hollymount, Killadoon, Mulranny, Parke, Rossport, Tooreen, Tourmakeady and Urlaur.

By 2020 open eir will have invested over €17 million in Mayo’s broadband infrastructure enabling over 50,000 homes and businesses across urban and rural Mayo access high-speed fibre broadband.

Nationally open eir continues to make significant progress on the roll-out of Ireland’s largest open access high-speed fibre broadband network with the network now reaching 1.6. million homes and businesses.

As an open access network any broadband provider can sell TV, broadband and phone services using the infrastructure. There are currently 15 telecoms companies using the network to provide TV and broadband services across Ireland.

When complete, a national network of 1.9 million premises will have access to high-speed broadband, leaving approximately 450,000 premises in areas where it isn’t currently commercially viable for open eir or other commercial networks to service.

To address this, the Government has announced it will award a national broadband tender in 2017 to subsidise commercial networks in bringing high-speed broadband to the most rural areas in Ireland.