Laois County Council has signed a deal with Magnet which will see the council’s broadband connectivity increase from 2Mbps to 50Mbps.
Magnet will use the Portlaoise metropolitan area network (MAN) to deliver the 50Mbps connection.
The increased speed will facilitate the provision of a large number of new online services to the public, including a facility allowing users to access planning documents such as maps and drawings from the local authority’s website.
The new fibre connection will be fully scalable, supplying potentially unlimited bandwidth. Over the past 18 months, Magnet Business has signed similar deals with Westmeath County Council, Limerick City Council and Offaly County Council.
“This massive increase in broadband connectivity for Laois County Council will allow us to significantly improve many of the online services we offer to citizens. We are delighted that we can now provide members of the public full access to planning documents,” said John Forde, head of information systems at Laois County Council, adding that this was only the start of the council’s plans for online services.
“My previous experience in Carlow, which also benefits from a fibre optic MAN, showed me that these next-generation fibre networks facilitate dramatic service improvements that simply aren’t possible with the old copper networks.”
By Niall Byrne
