Over 2,500 homes, businesses and farms in rural areas surrounding Mountrath will be able to connect to fibre broadband on National Broadband Ireland network in coming months

Over 7,000 premises in County Laois can avail of a high-speed connection today

National Broadband Ireland, the company delivering the new future-proofed, high-speed Fibre-to-the-Home network under the National Broadband Plan on behalf of the Government, has said that over 2,500 Laois properties in its Mountrath deployment area will be able to connect to its high-speed fibre broadband network by winter this year. The area also includes the rural areas and townlands surrounding Mountrath, Abbeyleix and Borris-in-Ossory.

13,000 premises in County Laois 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, County Laois will receive €49M of Government investment under the National Broadband Plan. 

Construction works are underway to connect 2,533 homes, farms and businesses in the Mountrath deployment area and broadband on NBI’s high-speed network is expected to be available between October and December later this year. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people living near Mountrath to visit nbi.ie/eoi to sign up for notifications on when they will be able be able to join the network. 

Works have already been completed in other parts of Laois and there are a total of 7,053 premises that are available to pre-order or order high-speed, reliable broadband across the county with 1,483 connections made so far. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people to visit nbi.ie/map/ and enter their Eircode to see if they are ready to connect.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that Laois premises in the Mountrath area will be able to order high-speed broadband services through the National Broadband Ireland network by the end of this year. This will enable users to experience the life-changing benefits that high-speed broadband provides.”

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 62 RSPs have already signed up to sell services on the National Broadband Ireland network and 51 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 National Broadband Ireland network, visit NBI.ie/buy.

National Broadband Ireland contractors have been on the ground across the country and over 177,412 premises nationwide can order or pre-order broadband on the NBI network so far.

The National Broadband Ireland 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.

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.  

Broadband Connection Points

In advance of the Fibre-to-the-Home rollout, the NBP provides for the delivery of Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) nationwide. 602 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 www.nbi.ie/bcp-map/. An example of some of the locations of Broadband Connection Points in Laois include Donaghmore Workhouse and Agriculture Museum, Shanganamore Community Centre and Emo ‘Old School’ Community Centre. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.