Siro announces Airwire as its latest fibre retail partner

1 Dec 2017

From left: Siro CEO Sean Atkinson with Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten, TD. Image: Edelman

Airwire is the latest Siro partner, and will be providing speedy fibre broadband to a number of towns.

Siro, the wholesale broadband operator building a 100pc fibre network in 50 towns across the country, has today (1 December) announced a new partnership with Airwire.

Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten, TD, made the announcement at an event in the Sheraton Athlone Hotel in association with Athlone Chamber of Commerce.

Established early in 2006, Airwire aims to provide broadband to areas in the west of Ireland that were previously underserved. It began as a small operator in Galway and, in the years since, has covered a large portion of counties Meath, Westmeath, Roscommon, Laois, Galway, Clare and Mayo.

Initially, Airwire will be offering 100pc fibre-optic broadband services powered by Siro in Athlone, Ennis, Limerick and Portlaoise, with more towns to be announced in the coming months.

Minister Naughten discussed the deal in terms of the Government’s National Broadband Plan at today’s announcement. “Today’s announcement forms part of the Government strategy that I am overseeing to give every premises in Ireland access to high-speed broadband as quickly as possible through a combination of commercial and State-led investment.

“In this respect, it is very encouraging to see fibre-optic broadband services being made available by more companies, with Airwire becoming the latest retail partner to offer services powered by Siro.”

He praised the wider distribution of fibre broadband around the country, saying: “The increased availability of fibre-to-the-building broadband in Ireland, which is seen as the gold standard for connectivity internationally, will help power the digital transformation taking place in Ireland.”

CEO of Siro, Sean Atkinson, said the company was “delighted” to unveil the Airwire partnership, “giving residents and businesses more choice to experience Siro’s Gigabit connectivity”.

Siro already has services live or under construction in 25 towns across Ireland.

Martin List-Petersen, CTO of Airwire, said: “We have always believed that people living in regional Ireland should have access to broadband of the same quality available to those living in cities.”

“Rather than having to invest millions in building our own fibre network, we now have access to the best technology in the country, which gives us a great opportunity to attract new customers.”

This new development is just one of a series of similar plans countrywide to enable quality broadband access for everyone, no matter their location.

Ellen Tannam was a journalist with Silicon Republic, covering all manner of business and tech subjects

editorial@siliconrepublic.com