Trim, Co Meath. Image: © jrossphoto/Stock.adobe.com
An ancient county is about to get a jump on the 21st century.
Wholesale broadband provider Siro has revealed details of a €20m investment to deploy fibre to 21,000 homes and businesses across County Meath.
As part of the roll-out Siro will connect Ashbourne, Dunshaughlin, Ratoath, Trim, Dunboyne, Mornington, Laytown and Bettystown to its fibre-to-the-building network, bringing its network to a total of nine towns when you include Navan, which was one of Siro’s earliest deployments.
‘Towns like Trim will now be on a par with cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong for broadband connectivity’
– DAMIEN ENGLISH
“One of the key aims of Meath County Council’s digital strategy is to help boost the economic and social development of the county through improved digital capabilities,” said the CEO of Meath County Council, Jackie Maguire.“The wider roll-out of Siro’s 100pc fibr- optic broadband network, which will now reach nine towns in the county, illustrates how we are delivering on that promise.
“As a result, we will be able to attract further investment to the county, make remote working a more attractive option for people commuting to work and make innovative services like video consultations with GPs a real possibility.”
Towns on cloud nine
The investment was revealed by local TD and Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal Damien English, TD.
“I have been actively advocating in Government for plans to help accelerate the roll-out of high-speed broadband across the country, so it is brilliant to see eight new towns in Meath get access to what is regarded as the international gold standard for broadband,” English said.
“Towns like Trim will now be on a par with cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong for broadband connectivity, so the possibilities are endless in terms of residents benefiting from the latest online services and businesses gaining a competitive edge.”
As part of its expanded roll-out in Meath, Siro has put out a call to business centres in the eight towns to register their interest in participating in the Gigabit Hub Initiative, which is run in partnership with Vodafone.
Siro, which recently appointed John Keaney as its new CEO, delivers fibre-optic cables all the way to the building using the existing ESB network, with no copper connections at any point.
The company was created as part of a €450m joint venture between ESB and Vodafone.
Siro’s 1Gbps broadband network is now live in 30 towns across the country, with 10 retailers offering connections to 200,000 homes and businesses, offered on an open access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland.
Siro has formed partnerships with 10 operators – Vodafone, Digiweb, Sky, BT, Carnsore Broadband, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, Enet, Airwire and Westnet – with more retailers expected to come on board.
“Siro is building Ireland’s only 100pc fibre-optic network, which means that anyone in Meath using our services are guaranteed the best broadband experience in the country as there is nothing faster than the speed of light,” said John McManus, build director with Siro.
“Considering the data demands in the future due to cloud technology and online streaming services, our fibre-to-the-building network means that we are future-proofing these nine towns’ broadband needs for decades ahead.”
