Over 750 Laois homes, businesses and farms will be able to connect to fibre broadband on National Broadband Ireland network this summer.

Almost 10,000 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 750 Laois properties in its Castlecomer deployment area will soon be able to connect to its high-speed fibre broadband network. This includes the rural areas and townlands surrounding Durrow, Ballinakill, and Spink.

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

Construction works are underway to connect 763 Laois homes, farms and businesses in the Castlecomer deployment area to broadband on NBI’s high-speed network which is expected to be available between July and September this year. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people living near Durrow and the surrounding areas 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 9,990 premises that are available to pre-order or order high-speed, reliable broadband across the county with 3,312 connections made so far.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that Laois premises in the surrounding areas of Durrow will be able to order high-speed broadband services through the National Broadband Ireland network in the coming months. This will enable users to experience the life-changing benefits that high-speed broadband provides. 

“Almost 10,000 homes, businesses and farms in Co Laois can now order a high-speed fibre connection to the National Broadband Ireland network. This includes:

  • Almost 3,700 near Portlaoise 
  • Almost 2,600 premises near Mountrath 
  • Almost 1,900 near Ballylinan 
  • Over 1,200 along the county border near Carlow and Roscrea 

We are working hard on the ground to progress other areas of the county through engineering survey, design and construction phases. We are encouraging Laois residents to visit the NBI website to check their Eircode and sign up for updates.”

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 71 RSPs have already signed up to sell services on the National Broadband Ireland network and 68 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 268,066 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 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 nbi.ie/bcp-map/. An example of some of the locations of Broadband Connection Points in Laois include Vicarstown Community Centre, Donaghmore Workhouse and Agriculture Museum and Oisin House. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are now connected for educational access as part of the NBP.