Author: Nicola Cooke

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company working on behalf of the Government to deliver high speed broadband as part of the National Broadband Plan (NBP), has surveyed homes and premises in parts of Sligo.

Surveying

NBI contractors have been on the ground since January and have surveyed over 70,000 premises in 17 counties to date. NBI teams are working throughout Sligo including  Ballintogher, Ballysadare, Calry, Carney, Collooney, Drumcliff, Kilmacowen, Rosses Point, Rahaberna, Lisduff, and the outskirts of Sligo town.  In Sligo, 1750 premises have been surveyed so far.   Additional areas include Clogherevagh, Tobercurry, Ballymote, Sligo Town, Enniscrone, Aghamore Near, Carrowcrin, Strandhill, Culshera, and Kilmactranny.

This involves physically walking the routes and documenting images, notes and measurements of  the poles, cables and underground ducts in each area.  This will enable design solutions for the provision of a fibre network to every premises in the Intervention Area – a map of almost 537,000 premises nationwide identified by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) as not being served with adequate broadband services.

Sligo

In Sligo, there are 14,809 premises in the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools. This equates to 37% of all premises in the county. Under the National Broadband Plan, Sligo 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 more remote working – all of which support the National Development Plan (NDP).

Further Deployment Details

NBI has updated its website www.nbi.ie with a search tool to enable the public to check whether their premises is within the rollout area, and to show indicative dates for early surveying areas. All areas must firstly be surveyed to enable low level designs for building out the new high speed fibre network. The first of these – for the townlands around Carrigaline in Cork, and part of Cavan – is now complete, and build works will start in both in the next fortnight, with connections expected by the end of year. The next connections will be in Galway, Tralee, and Wexford in early 2021. Over 115,000 premises nationwide will be passed and available for connection within the next 18 months.

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs)

In advance of homes and businesses receiving future-proofed broadband directly to their door, a network of Broadband Connection Points will provide vital high speed internet access at locations within the intervention area. This project is well underway and NBI surveying of approximately 300 locations throughout Ireland is progressing well, which will deliver connectivity in the community in the near future.

These facilities – which include GAA clubs, schools, community centres and other public facilities – will provide free access to high speed internet in the rollout area. These will pave the way for rural communities in the IA to receive the benefits of broadband, from mobile working, e-learning and mobile banking, to digital tourism.

In Sligo some BCPs include include Killaval, Highwood, Castleconnor and Cartron community centres while some schools in the rollout area will also be connected for educational access only, including Achonry NS, Clonnloo NS & Scoil Asicus Naofa outside Strandhill.

Progress on the ground

NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said the company is pleased with the progress being made: “We started physical work on the ground in January and I am delighted to report that this is going very well. We are acutely aware that people want access to high speed broadband as soon as possible, and our goal is to deliver that.

“Future proofed fibre broadband will be key to ensuring that Ireland is fully and reliably connected in this digital era – and for future generations to come. The BCPs are a critical community delivery point to deliver access to high speed internet in to premises in the Intervention Area, and we’re working hard to ensure the first BCP launches are delivered in the next few months.”

The public can log onto www.nbi.ie for more information or to sign up for updates in their area.

They can also call 0818 624 624 (local call rate) or email contactus@nbi.ie.