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 build works in Dundalk, Co. Louth are well underway.
In Dundalk, over 2,770 premises have been surveyed to date with network designs completed to deliver the new Fibre to the Home (FTTH) network in the area. NBI crews have started initial works for the build in townlands surrounding Dundalk including Allardstown, Ballinfuil, Carnroe, Carrickedmond, Drumcamill, Hoarstone, Kane, Philipstown, Stephenstown, Treagh, and Whitemill. These ‘make ready’ works pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre on poles/ducts, and include the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of subduct into existing ducts, for the fibre to be installed.
In Louth, there are 8,344 premises in the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools. This equates to 13% of all premises in the county. Under the National Broadband Plan, Louth will see an investment of €33M 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.
NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said the company was pleased with the progress being made: “We started physical work on the ground in January 2020 and despite the challenging environment caused by Covid-19, we’ve grown and mobilised the team working on the project across all 26 counties and are making good progress. We are acutely aware that people want access to high-speed broadband as soon as possible, and our goal is to deliver that.”
He continued: “There are 227 deployments areas across Ireland, covering 96% of Ireland’s land mass. We are currently working closely with retail service providers, and other stakeholders, to connect the first homes in Dundalk before the end of 2021. Minimum speeds of 500Mb will be available.”
“Our mission is to end the digital divide across the country. Digital connectivity is critical to many of our activities right now, and this new Fibre-to-the-Home network, will be a key enabler for the sustainment of local businesses and communities.”
Broadband Connection Points (BCPs)
In advance of the Fibre-to-the-Home roll out, the NBP provides for the delivery of BCPs nationwide. 164 of these sites are now ‘live’ and have both internal and external broadband access. These facilities – which include sports clubs, community centres and tourist sites – will provide free public access to high-speed internet in the rollout area.
These 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 /bcp-map/. Locations of Broadband Connection Points in county Louth will include Mattock Rangers GAA Club, Clogherhead Pier, Port Beach, Templetown Beach, Stephenstown, Annaghminnon Rovers GAA Club, Killanny GAA Club. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.
NBI’s website www.nbi.ie has a search tool to enable the public to check whether their premises is within the rollout area, and to show indicative dates for areas being surveyed. There is also a facility to register for updates. NBI’s contact centre can be reached at 0818 624 624 (lo-call) or contactus@nbi.ie.
