High-speed connectivity on the way as over 1,900 Wicklow homes, farms and businesses near Aughrim and Tinahely see build works commence
Almost 7,000 homes, businesses and farms in Wicklow can avail of a high-speed connection today
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 construction has commenced to deliver high-speed broadband to over 1,900 homes, farms and businesses in the Aughrim deployment area in Co Wicklow. These build works include the rural communities of Tinahely, Ballinaclash and Aughrim.
In Wicklow, there are approximately 16,000 premises in the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools. Under the National Broadband Plan, Co Wicklow will see an investment of €59M 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.
Having successfully completed the survey and design phase of the project, 1,920 Wicklow premises in the Aughrim deployment areas are now under construction to have high-speed fibre. National Broadband Ireland’s 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.
Works have also already been completed in other parts of Wicklow and there are 6,939 premises that can now order or pre-order high-speed, reliable broadband across the county, with 2,223 premises already connected to the network. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people to visit nbi.ie/map/ and enter their Eircode to see if they are ready to connect.
TJ Malone, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland Deployment said: “Our teams are working on the ground all over the country and considerable progress has been made on the rollout in Wicklow. High-speed fibre broadband is now available to order for over 1,400 premises near Blessington as well as over 2,300 premises near Kilcoole and almost 3,400 near Redcross.
“We are pleased to be commencing construction on a further 1,900 homes, businesses and farms around Aughrim and Tinahely. Meanwhile, construction works are underway for almost 1,500 premises in the Glendalough deployment area, almost 700 premises in Enniskerry and over 1,800 in Baltinglass. This means the majority of the county is now either ready to connect or under construction, with many more areas due to go live on the network this year. We are strong encouraging Wicklow residents to visit www.nbi.ie/EOI to check their Eircode and sign up for updates.
“Our overarching goal is to improve digital connectivity across the country. With minimum internet speed of 500Mbps, this new Fibre-to-the-Home network will play a pivotal role in sustaining local businesses and communities.”
Under the National Broadband Plan, 564,000 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.
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. 955 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 Wicklow include Wicklow GAA Centre of Excellence, Ballycooge Community Hall and Arklow Business Enterprise Centre. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.
