Digiweb has announced completion of a €20m funding round that will be used to extend the company’s existing broadband network as well as building another based on 4G mobile technology.
The company secured the funding through the Irish investment development firm the Moritz Group. Previously, Digiweb said its growth had been self financed through reinvesting capital and a business expansion programme.
With the new money available to it, Digiweb plans first to roll out its Metro service countrywide. The company claimed that the service, which was launched a year ago offering broadband and telephone connections for under €20 a month, had been well received by consumer and business customers.
Digiweb also gave its first indication that it intends to use the cash to expand into Europe and to build what it said would be Ireland’s first 4G mobile network. The company said it will make an announcement on the latter development shortly.
Over the next 18 months, the planned expansion is due result in an additional 100 engineering, computing and customer service jobs in Dublin, Dundalk, Waterford and Limerick, increasing Digiweb’s staff headcount to 220.
Colm Piercy, Digiweb’s managing director, said that the company would look to combine organic growth with looking at possible opportunities for an acquisition. “On foot of this investment we can aggressively address the question of broadband availability across the country and will accelerate our plans to extend our market leading networks and services further across both Ireland and Europe,” he said.
By Gordon Smith
