Eircom reveals locations for first phase of €100m fibre rollout

Incumbent telco Eircom has revealed the first locations in Ireland that will benefit from a €100m investment in fibre-to-the-cabinet technology. Some premises will get direct fibre-to-the-home connectivity.

Eircom last month announced an investment plan to spend €100m on the first phase of a plan to reach 1m homes with fibre over the next four years.

They include communities in six counties across all four provinces, as well as major cities including Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick. Work is expected to commence this autumn and will continue through the summer of 2012. The communities include:

Mervue (Galway); Douglas (Cork); Dooradoyle (Limerick); Tallaght, Ballyboden, Palmerstown, Swords, Donabate Co. Dublin; Clonee, Co Meath; Letterkenny, Co Donegal;

Once Phase 1 is completed, fibre will pass more than 100,000 homes and businesses within the selected areas, providing speeds of 40 Mbps and beyond.  The upgraded infrastructure will largely use fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) technology, but some direct fibre to the home (FTTH) will be used in certain areas.

The locations announced today are in addition to the four pilot areas previously announced. They include Wexford Town along with Sandyford Village, Priory Park and Dundrum in Co Dublin.

“This is the next step in the rollout of high speed broadband services,” Eircom CEO Paul Donovan said.

“We have selected locations which have a geographical reach beyond Dublin and across the country.

“We believe there is a strong appetite for new fibre based products and services that will be competitively priced. Work will commence later this year and we hope to have the network upgrade completed by the end of Summer 2012,” Donovan promised.