Almost 2,400 Skerries homes, farms and businesses will be able to avail of National Broadband Ireland high speed fibre

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company delivering the new future-proofed, high-speed Fibre-to-the-Home network under the National Broadband Plan (NBP) on behalf of the Government, has announced that the first premises in the Skerries Deployment Area have been successfully connected. 

The National Broadband Ireland rollout in the Skerries Deployment area is set to benefit residents of Skerries town alongside homes and businesses in nearby townlands such as Holmpatrick and the surrounds of Ballbriggan.

Up to 19,000 premises in County Dublin are included in the State’s Intervention Area, which will see NBI deliver minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second to homes, businesses, farms and schools. As the biggest investment in rural Ireland since rural electrification, the County will receive €48 million of Government investment under the NBP. 

NBI crews have made substantial progress in the Skerries Deployment Area and almost 2,400 premises will be able sign up for reliable, high-speed broadband with one of NBI’s retail partners very soon. 

The NBI website is regularly updated to show estimated connection dates. Signing up to the NBI email notifications at /eoi/ is the easiest way to get the most up to date status of premises during the rollout and when premises will be ready for order.  

NBI is encouraging Skerries residents and those in neighbouring areas to visit the nbi.ie website where they can search their Eircode to find out if they are ready to connect and sign up for updates.

Joe Lavin, Chief Commercial Officer of National Broadband Ireland, said: “National Broadband Ireland is delighted to announce that almost 1,000 homes, farms and businesses in Skerries are now able to connect to our network and that 260 premises have already signed up with one of our retail partners.  It is our goal to give all home, farms and businesses throughout Ireland the opportunity to reap the benefits that high-speed broadband provides. 

“For families and businesses in the Skerries Deployment Area, having an NBI high speed connection is vital in order to work or study from home, enjoy live streaming content or even just to carry out their daily tasks. Households throughout the area have become multiple device households meaning that there could be several people online at one time. Having access to NBI’s high speed broadband will revolutionize the way families and businesses operate and will in turn create more opportunities.”

Alan Moore, one of the first customers in the Skerries Deployment Area to be connected to the NBI network said: “As a family, we have become increasingly reliant on broadband and it has become a huge part of our lives. We are always online, whether it’s our children doing homework, playing for hours on the PlayStation or my wife and I just looking for the latest series to stream on Netflix. I was delighted when NBI Gigabit fibre became available to us through our local provider, eir. 

“Before getting connected to the NBI Gigabit fibre, the broadband speed was desperately slow. There were times that we would have to wait for long periods of time just to download one website or one programme. We’d even have to take turns using the internet which usually resulted with disagreements in our house. This is no longer the case as we can now download our chosen pages instantly and the boys can play PlayStation with no interruptions! It is a dream come true and I do not know how we lived without being connected sooner. I can already tell the difference it has made to our community area.”

Maeve O Malley, Director of Fixed and TV, eir – the Retail Service Provider selling services on the new fibre network in the area – commented: “eir customers, like the Moore family prove that having a high-speed broadband connection is vital in today’s world and working with a trusted broadband partner eases the process of getting connected. We are delighted to work with NBI on this project to provide the Moore family with Gigabit fibre broadband as part of the National Broadband Plan. 

“Customers throughout Ireland are availing of the benefits that high-speed fibre broadband can provide and it is great to see the Skerries area now join this connection. We are excited to collaborate with NBI again on future projects.”

Aishling Hyland, Broadband Officer for Fingal County Council said: “Fingal County Council welcomes NBI’s delivery of fibre infrastructure in the Skerries Deployment Area. We are delighted that homes, farms and businesses can now benefit from a connection to high-speed broadband via the National Broadband Plan. We look forward to the opportunities that these connections will provide in our local areas.”

As a wholesale network operator, NBI does not sell fibre broadband directly to end users, rather it enables services from a range of broadband providers or Retail Service Providers (RSPs). As a wholesale provider, NBI will make the new Fibre-to-the-Home network available to all RSPs operating in the Intervention Area.  

Some 61 RSPs have already signed up to sell services on the NBI network and 48 are certified as ready to start providing connections as of today. To see the retail broadband providers that are currently licensed to sell on the NBI™ network, visit NBI.ie/buy   

Under the National Broadband Plan, 559,000 premises nationwide are included in the Intervention Area, which was established by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications to identify areas where commercial operators are not currently providing access to high-speed broadband or do not intend to.   

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) 

In advance of the Fibre-to-the-Home rollout, the NBP provides for the delivery of Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) nationwide. 574 of these sites, including Public BCPs, are now ‘live’. Public BCPs – which include sports clubs, community centres and tourist sites – will provide free public access to high-speed internet in the rollout area. Other BCP categories include schools and marts.

BCPs will pave the way for rural communities to receive the benefits of broadband, from mobile working, e-learning and mobile banking, to digital tourism. You can view BCPs at /bcp-map/. An example of some of the locations of Broadband Connection Points in Wexford include Stella Maris Community Centre, the Hook Head Visitor Centre, Raheen Parochial House and Marshalstown GAA Club. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP. 

Keep up to Speed! 

NBI is encouraging people to check their eligibility and register for updates at www.nbi.ie to receive regular notifications related to their own premises as works progresses in their area.