National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the new high speed fibre broadband network under the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) today announced that surveying works in several areas of Kilkenny are well underway.

Surveying

The rollout of the National Broadband Plan continues to ramp up as homes and communities begin to be connected in Intervention Areas across the country. NBI contractors have been on the ground across the country for over twenty months and almost 280,000 premises nationwide have been surveyed to date. This involves physically walking the routes and documenting images, notes and measurements of the poles, cables and underground ducts in each area. These vital survey works enable “Fibre-to-the-Home” network designs to be completed for each of the over 550,000 plus premises in the Intervention Area, as identified by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communication (DECC).

Kilkenny

In Kilkenny, there are over 18,000 premises in the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools. Under the National Broadband Plan, Kilkenny will see an investment of €72M in the new high speed fibre network. This will enable e-learning, remote monitoring of livestock or equipment, e-health initiatives, better energy efficiency in the home, and facilitate increased levels of remote working.

NBI crews have made substantial progress in Kilkenny, where the following areas have been surveyed: Johnstown, Urlingford, Freshford, Glenbawn, Gathabawn, Clontubrid, Freshford, and Woodsgift.   Previous areas that have undergone survey work include Piltown, Fiddown, Barrabehy, Brenor, Templeorum, Owning, Knocklow, Knockbrown, The Glebe, Barnathasona, Cussaun, Ticknock and Skough.  NBI is now working to design the technical specifications required to build out the fibre network in these areas.

These initial works pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre on poles/ducts and includes the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of sub duct into existing ducts, for the fibre to be installed.

All NBI contractors will also carry official ID cards and essential worker letters, and have received training on adhering to all Covid 19 guidelines. They will have vehicles, PPE, and signage with both their own, and NBI logos.

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs)

In advance of the fibre to the home roll out, the NBP provides for the delivery of BCPs nationwide. 386 of these sites are now ‘live’ and have both internal and external broadband access. These facilities – which include GAA clubs, community centres and tourist sites – will provide free public access to high-speed internet in the rollout area.

These will pave the way for rural communities to receive the benefits of broadband, from mobile working, e-learning and mobile banking, to digital tourism. A full list can be found at /bcp-map/. An example of some of the locations of Broadband Connection Points in county Kilkenny that are connected are Galmoy Community Centre, Tullaghought Parish Hall, Ballyouskill Parish Hall, Muckalee Handball Club, Graine Community Hall, Crosspatrick Community Hall. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.

Progress on the ground

NBI Chief Executive Peter Hendrick said: “Momentum has been steadily building in the progression of the National Broadband Plan rollout, with homes across the country being connected to high-speed broadband. Our teams have been, and continue to do so, work on the rollout plan and substantial progress has been made from surveying, design, build to connection works.”

“As an increasing number of homes and businesses are being connected, and we see really strong demand and uptake in Kilkenny at the moment, and we are confident that the rollout will continue to gather pace as we look to connect thousands more homes and businesses. We are acutely aware that people want access to high-speed broadband and our goal is to deliver that as quickly as possible.”

“Survey and designs are an important part of mapping out how every home, farm and business will be connected, and they provide the blueprint for how the NBI fibre is laid. The BCPs are also a key milestone in delivering access to high-speed internet in the Intervention Area, and we’re delighted to see these being connected for access – internally and externally – right across the county.”

NBI’s website www.nbi.ie has a search tool to enable the public to check whether their premises is within the rollout area, and to show indicative dates for areas being surveyed. NBI’s contact centre can be reached at 0818 624 624 (lo-call) or contactus@nbi.ie.