National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the new high-speed fibre broadband network under the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) today announced that fibre build works in Co. Louth are well underway.

In Drogheda, over 4,100 premises have been surveyed to date with network designs completed to deliver the new Fibre to the Home (FTTH) network in the area with an anticipated date for connection. NBI crews have started initial works for the build in townlands across Drogheda including Monasterboice, Tullyallen, Bettystown, Donore, Laytown, Termonfeckin and Julianstown. These ‘make ready’ works pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre on poles/ducts, and include the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of subduct into existing ducts, for the fibre to be installed.

The website is regularly updated to show estimated connection dates. Signing up to the NBI email notifications at /eoi/ is the easiest way to get the most up to date status of premises during the rollout and when premises will be ready for order.

In County Louth, there are 8,425 premises in the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools. This equates to 13% of all premises in the county. Under the National Broadband Plan, Louth will see an investment of €33 million in the new high speed fibre network. This will enable e-learning, remote monitoring of livestock or equipment, e-health initiatives, better energy efficiency in the home, and more remote working.

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs)

In advance of the Fibre-to-the-Home roll out, the NBP provides for the delivery of Broadband Connection Points (BCP’s) nationwide. 453 of these sites are now ‘live’ and have both internal and external broadband access. These facilities – which include schools, sports clubs, community centres and tourist sites – will provide free public access to high-speed internet in the rollout area.

These BCP’s will pave the way for rural communities to receive the benefits of broadband, from mobile working, e-learning and mobile banking, to digital tourism. You can view BCPs at /bcp-map/. An example of some of the locations of Broadband Connection Points in Louth that are connected are Killanny GAA Club, Annaghminnon Rovers GAA Club, Stephenstown Pond Nature Park, Templetown Beach, Port Beach, Clogherhead Pier, Mattock Rangers GAA Club, Cooley Kickhams GAA, RocheEmmets GAA Club. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.

NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said the company was satisfied with the progress being made: “Momentum has been steadily building in the progression of the National Broadband Plan rollout, with homes across the country being connected to high-speed broadband. Our teams continue to work on the rollout plan and substantial progress has been made from surveying, design, build to connection works.”

He continued: “As an increasing number of homes and businesses are being connected, we are confident that the rollout will continue to gather pace as we look to connect thousands more homes and businesses.  We are currently working closely with retail service providers, and other stakeholders, to connect homes in County Louth. Minimum speeds of 500Mb will be available.”

“Our mission is to end the digital divide across the country. Digital connectivity is critical to many of our activities, and this new Fibre-to-the-Home network, will be a key enabler for the sustainability of local businesses and communities.”

Keep up to Speed!

Signing up to NBI email notifications is the easiest way to get the most up to date status of your premises during the rollout. You can do so by registering at /eoi/.

NBI’s website www.nbi.ie has a search tool to enable the public to check whether their premises is within the rollout area, and to show indicative dates for areas being surveyed. NBI’s contact centre can be reached at 0818 624 624 (lo-call) or contactus@nbi.ie.