Almost 3,400 homes, businesses and farms near Redcross are ready to connect to fibre broadband on NBI™ network today

Almost 8,600 homes, businesses and farms in Wicklow 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 said that almost 3,400 properties in its Redcross deployment area can now avail of a high-speed fibre broadband connection. This includes the rural areas and townlands surrounding Arklow, Redcross and Brittas. 

16,000 premises in Co Wicklow 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 Wicklow will receive €59M of Government investment under the National Broadband Plan. 

There are 3,390 Wicklow premises in the Redcross deployment area that can join the NBI™ network. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people living nearby to visit nbi.ie/map/ and enter their Eircode to see if they are ready to connect.

There are 8,588 homes, businesses, and farms in County Wicklow that can order or pre-order high-speed, reliable broadband with 2,753 connections made to the NBI™ network so far. 

Build works continue across Co Wicklow as over 1,900 premises near Aughrim and over 1,800 near Baltinglass are due to be connected to NBI’s fibre broadband in the coming weeks between September and October 2024. 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.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that almost 3,400 Wicklow premises near Redcross can now order high-speed broadband services through the NBI™ network. This will enable those who connect to experience the life-changing benefits of high-speed broadband with minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second.

“Almost 8,600 homes, businesses and farms in Co Wicklow can now order a high-speed fibre connection to the NBI™ network. This includes almost 3,400 premises near Redcross, over 1,400 near Blessington and 2,300 near Kilcoole. We are working hard on the ground to progress other areas of the county through engineering survey, design and construction phases. We encourage local 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 72 RSPs have already signed up to sell services on the NBI™ 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 NBI™ network, visit NBI.ie/buy.

National Broadband Ireland contractors have been on the ground across the country and over 306,049 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 Wicklow include Brockagh Resource Centre, ABEC (Arklow Business Enterprise Centre) and Wicklow GAA Centre of Excellence. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are now connected for educational access as part of the NBP.