2,000 homes in rural Castlebar can now connect to National Broadband Plan as local families reap benefits

Over 7,000 homes, businesses and farms are now ready to connect across Mayo

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the new high-speed fibre broadband network under the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) is making an investment of almost €145 million to ensure access for over 37,000 Mayo homes, farms and businesses in and around Castlebar. The company was in town this week to meet with local man Eamon Murphy who is connected to the NBI network and had struggled with poor connectivity up to now.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland said: As the NBI rollout progresses across Mayo, connections to high-speed broadband are becoming available to rural towns and villages around the county. Presently, over 7,000 homes, farms and businesses across rural Mayo can order high-speed fibre broadband to connect to the National Broadband Network. This includes over 2,100 premises in Ballina, almost 1,800 in Newport, 1,500 in Carrowmore Lacken and over 2,000 in Castlebar.

“The significant progress we are making means that more and more customers are experiencing the transformational power of minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second whether you are a family needing to work, study and access entertainment online all at the same time, or a business owner wanting to expand.

“Overall NBI, will be making a €145 million investment in Mayo and serving over 37,000 premises. I encourage Mayo residents to visit nbi.ie and check their Eircode to find out if they are ready to connect and sign up for updates.”

Local Castlebar man, Eamon Murphy who is connected to the NBI network through broadband provider, Atlantek, said: “I was delighted to be able to sign up with Atlantek to connect to the NBI network. My wife and I have been long-time customers of Atlantek and were eager to upgrade to fibre broadband. The team was fantastic from start to finish – quick response time, so understanding and provided an excellent, local service.

“Before connecting to the NBI network, we struggled with unreliable broadband connections particularly in bad weather. Our satellite dish was often damaged by heavy storms and lightning.

“Now I can stream a movie for my two toddlers without any delays. It’s much easier to keep the peace at home. I’m a massive Arsenal fan, for my sins, and with the new high-speed fibre broadband, I can stream matches without missing a moment.”

Alan McGrath, Managing Director and Owner of Atlantek and MayoFibre.ie, said: “Atlantek is very pleased to be one of NBI’s broadband provider partners bringing high-speed broadband to customers like Eamon, with minimum speeds of 500 MB per second.

“We pride ourselves on delivering an excellent product and service to local communities. Since 1997, we have strived to bring reliable broadband to homes and businesses across Mayo. We offer a range of packages at a reasonable price to suit everyone. We are ready and waiting to hear from any of 2,000 Castlebar families and businesses which can order now, and if they choose Atlantek, look forward to making connecting as easy as possible.”

Under the National Broadband Plan, 569,000 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 or intending to provide access to high-speed broadband.

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 will ultimately connect 1.1 million people in every county, 65,000 farms, 44,000 small businesses and 679 schools.

Photo caption: Managing and Director of Atlantek and MayoFibre.ie, Alan McGrath, National Broadband Ireland Communications Executive, Ross Shone, and broadband customer, Eamon Murphy.