Over 4,000 Kilkenny premises can now connect to high-speed broadband in Mullinahone and Thomastown

Almost 14,800 homes, businesses and farms in Kilkenny can avail of a high-speed connection today

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), 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 announced that over 4,000 properties in Co Kilkenny can now connect to high-speed fibre broadband. This includes over 1,200 premises in the rural surrounds of Callan and Ballyclovan in the Mullinahone deployment area, as well as almost 2,800 premises Kells and Inistioge in the Thomastown deployment area.

19,000 premises in County Kilkenny 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 Kilkenny will receive €72M of Government investment under the National Broadband Plan.

There are 1,227 premises in the Mullinahone deployment area and 2,787 premises in the Thomastown deployment area that can now join the National Broadband Ireland network. NBI is encouraging people living near Callan and Thomastown to visit nbi.ie/map/ and enter their Eircode to find out how to connect.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that Kilkenny premises in the deployment areas near Callan and Thomastown can now order high-speed broadband services through the National Broadband Ireland network. This will enable users to experience the life-changing benefits that high-speed broadband provides.

“This means the majority of Kilkenny premises can now order a connection at almost 80% while 20% are under construction, have moved through the engineering survey and design phases.

“Therefore, almost 14,800 homes, businesses and farms in Co Kilkenny can place an order now to connect to the National Broadband Ireland network. This includes: 

  • Over 2,000 premises in Borris
  • Over 1,700 in Johnstown
  • Almost 1,500 in the Carrick-on-Suir deployment area near Piltown
  • Over 2,600 in the Waterford deployment area near Aglish
  • Over 3,600 surrounding Kilkenny city

“4,239 connections have been made so far, which is below the national average, so we will be continuing to build awareness to make sure Kilkenny homes and businesses aren’t missing out on the opportunity to avail of better broadband. 

“We are also letting people know that 2,600 premises in the Castlecomer deployment area in Co Kilkenny will be ready to connect to the National Broadband Ireland network later in the summer this year. NBI is calling on Kilkenny residents to visit nbi.ie/eoi to sign up for updates on when broadband will be available in their area.”

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 69 RSPs have already signed up to sell services on the National Broadband Ireland network and 62 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 233,159 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. 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 Kilkenny include the Graine Community Hall and Muckalee Handball Club and Tullaghought Parish Hall. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.

Photo Captions: Tilly Heneghan (left) and Justine Judge (right), NBI, either side of Chloe Murray and Derek Murphy, Blacknight, and one of their high speed broadband customers, Lester Ryan. Picture: Dylan Vaughan