Over 6,000 premises in Tullamore and Birr can avail of a high-speed broadband now

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 3,900 Offaly premises near Tullamore and Birr will be able to connect to its high-speed fibre broadband by the end of the year.

This includes over 2,000 premises in the Tullamore deployment area, covering the rural surrounds of Tullamore, Killeigh and Cappincur. Meanwhile, almost 1,900 premises in its Birr deployment area will soon be able to connect to high-speed fibre broadband. This includes the rural areas and townlands surrounding Birr, Dromoyle and Kilcolman.

13,000 premises in Co Offaly 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 Offaly will receive €48m of Government investment under the National Broadband Plan.

There are 2,019 premises in the Tullamore deployment area and 1,853 premises in the Birr deployment area that will be able join the NBI™ network by the end of the year. 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.

Network build works are also continuing across the county with build works in progress for almost 1,400 Offaly premises near the Edenderry deployment area, due to be connected next year.

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There is a total of 6,003 premises that can now pre-order or order high-speed, reliable broadband across the county with 1,758 connections made so far. Signing up to the NBI email notifications at https://nbi.ie/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.

NBI has now passed over 367,000 homes, farms and businesses in rural Ireland to high-speed broadband with over 127,000 now connected. The average take-up rate of 35% is well ahead of projections and international comparisons and surpasses 50% in areas of the country where the network has been live for 18 months.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that almost 3,900 premises in the Tullamore and Birr deployment areas are on track to connect to the NBI™ network by the end of the year. This will enable those who connect to experience the life-changing benefits of high-speed broadband with minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second.

“Overall, 6,000 homes, businesses and farms in Co Offaly can now order a high-speed fibre connection to the NBI™ network. We are working hard on the ground to progress other areas of the county through engineering survey, design and construction phases. We are encouraging Offaly 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.

The National Broadband Ireland website is regularly updated to show estimated connection dates. Signing up to the NBI email notifications at https://nbi.ie/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.  

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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 progress in their area.  

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 Offaly include Coolderry Community Hall, Rosfaraghan Business Park and Shannon Harbour. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also now connected for educational access as part of the NBP.