First Mayo connections under National Broadband Plan this year

THE National Broadband Plan will involve a government investment of €144 million in Co. Mayo.

The plan has identified that 36,495 premises are without high-speed broadband access - that's 43% of all premises in the county.

The roll-out of the plan will start with two regional exchanges, in Castlebar and Ballina, the members of Mayo County Council were told in a presentation by the chief commercial officer at National Broadband Ireland (NBI), Joe Lavin, at their monthly meeting.

Castlebar is well underway in terms of build and it is expected to be releasing premises for connection around September or October, with connections in Ballina probably starting in December.

From there they will build out, towards Newport and Achill in the west, and from Ballina out to Carramore/Lacken and Belmullet, and also into Sligo, with the Tubbercurry exchange also feeding back into Mayo.

In Killadoon and Newport, surveying is complete and the next stage is design, and then build next year, to be completed in 2023.

Mr. Lavin explained that NBI will be building in Mayo every year over the course of the national plan, which is six years, though it was hoped to shorten that timeframe.

Broadband connection points have already been rolled out at a number of community facilities in the county, providing internet access hubs. Two more - Inishturk and Turlough Community Centre - are to be built in the first half of this year.

Connectivity is also being rolled out to schools in the county in the broadband intervention area over the next 20 months.

Councillors told Mr. Lavin how the Covid pandemic had reinforced the necessity of rolling out broadband to all areas of the county and it was critical that its delivery be expedited. There was a fear that rural communities with a dispersed population would be left waiting for six or seven years.

Concern was raised too by a number of members about service providers coming into areas and connecting a number of houses, but then others were left without a service, a point which Councillor Michael Burke said he had personal experience of.

Mr. Lavin clarified that NBI have no say in where other providers build their network or don't.