Virgin Media CEO Tony Hanway. Image: Virgin Media
The company said this full-fibre broadband will become available in towns such as Tralee, Killarney and Letterkenny, along with ongoing upgrades in Dublin, Cork and Louth.
Virgin Media is upgrading its broadband network and plans to bring 2Gbps full-fibre speeds to 345,000 homes and businesses across Ireland.
The roll-out will see this fibre broadband offering become available in Irish towns such as Tralee, Killarney and Letterkenny. The company said full-fibre network upgrades are also ongoing in areas such as Dublin, Cork and Louth.
Virgin Media said this upgrade will give its customers faster speeds and superior reliability. The company also said the new roll-out represents a milestone in its transition to a full-fibre network.
At the end of 2021, Virgin Media announced a €200m investment to upgrade its national broadband network of more than 1m premises to full fibre. This followed Virgin Media making 1Gbps speeds available across almost all of its national network in 2020.
“Today’s announcement marks a step-change for our business as we will now offer superfast and reliable fibre broadband services in new regions across Ireland, resulting in greater consumer choice and increased competition,” said Virgin Media CEO Tony Hanway.
The company said recent research underlines how important home broadband has become for Irish users. Research conducted by Amárach – on behalf of Virgin Media – claims that more than a third of consumers are relying on their home broadband for home working needs, along with entertainment and streaming needs. This research also suggests that 53pc of people have consumed more streaming content over the last two years compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last August, Virgin Media signed a deal with broadband company Siro to extend its network to an additional 450,000 premises across Ireland. Siro is currently rolling out a 100pc fibre broadband network across 154 towns and cities in Ireland and aims to reach 770,000 premises by 2026.
Other companies are pushing forward with national broadband roll-out plans. In February, Eir said it had connected more than 1m homes and businesses in Ireland to its high-speed fibre-to-the-home network.
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