From left: Communications Minister Denis Naughten, TD, and Siro CEO Sean Atkinson. Image: Edelman
The town of Monksland is the latest stop for Siro’s FTTH scheme.
Siro is delivering Ireland’s first 100pc fibre-optic broadband network to 50 towns around the country, in partnership with Vodafone, Digiweb, Westnet, Rocket Broadband, Carnsore Broadband and Kerry Broadband.
Siro CEO Sean Atkinson and Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten, TD, broke ground recently in Monksland, Co Roscommon.
Siro comes to Monksland
Monksland is one of the first 25 Siro towns to benefit from gigabit-speed broadband, with more than 12,000 customers now connected to the network.
Atkinson and Naughten celebrated Gimme Fibre Day, which occurred on 4 November, in Monksland.
It acts as an international milestone organised by the Fibre To The Home (FTTH) Council, and also marks the birthday of Nobel Prize winner Sir Charles Kuen Kao, the man who changed the way the world communicates by transmitting light in fibres for optical communication in the 1960s.
Ireland’s fibre journey
Given the success in terms of the roll-out of FTTH broadband in Ireland this year, both Naughten and Siro have jointly requested the FTTH Council to include Ireland in its next league table (Market Panorama) to be published in February 2018.
Currently, Siro is the only Irish operator member of the FTTH Council, an organisation whose mission is to accelerate the availability of ultra-high-speed fibre access networks for the benefit of customers and businesses alike. It also facilitates European policy goals, such as the Digital Agenda and Digital Single Market.
Naughten explained how Ireland’s fibre journey was progressing: “The CEO of the FTTH Council, Ms Erzsébet Fitori, was the keynote speaker at the recent ComReg conference, which clearly shows how the conversation in Ireland is changing from last-mile copper and cable to fibre.
“I will be writing to the council in support of Siro’s submission. League tables matter and, with the latest ComReg statistics showing total FTTH subscriptions at 20,000, we should now join the register.”
Atkinson added: “In the two years since we launched, we have changed the conversation about broadband in Ireland with a clear recognition that FTTH is the future.
“Siro is proud to be the only Irish operator member of the FTTH Council and, with over 12,000 customers ourselves alone, we have requested that Ireland be included in the next FTTH league table due in February 2018.”
