High speed connectivity on the way as almost 2,100 Waterford homes, farms and businesses in rural areas near Dungarvan see engineering survey works begin

5,400 homes, businesses and farms in Waterford can avail of a high-speed connection today

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 engineering survey works for almost 2,100 premises in the rural surrounds of Dungarvan are now underway.

In Waterford, there are approximately 16,000 premises in the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses, and schools. Under the National Broadband Plan, Waterford will see an investment of €59M 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 facilitate increased levels of remote working. 

NBI crews have made substantial progress in Waterford, where 2,082 premises in the Dungarvan deployment area have recently begun surveying work. These initial works pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre on poles/ducts and includes the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of sub duct into existing ducts, for the fibre to be installed. 

These vital survey works enable “Fibre -to-the-Home” network designs to be completed for each of the 559,000 plus premises in the Intervention Area, as identified by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. 

There are 5,419 homes, businesses, and farms in County Waterford that can order or pre-order high-speed, reliable broadband with 1,373 connections made to the NBI network so far. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people living in Waterford to visit nbi.ie/map/ and enter their Eircode to see if they are ready to connect.

National Broadband Ireland contractors have been on the ground across the country and over 166,626 premises nationwide are available to order broadband with 44,142 homes and businesses connected to the NBI network so far. 

NBI Chief Executive Peter Hendrick said: “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 steady progress has been made from surveying, design, build to connection works in County Waterford.”  

“Survey and designs are an important part of mapping out how every home, farm and business will be connected, and they provide the blueprint for how the NBI fibre is laid. The BCPs are also a key milestone in delivering access to high-speed internet in the Intervention Area, and we’re delighted to see these being connected for access – internally and externally – right across Waterford.”

Keep up to Speed!  

NBI is encouraging people to check their eligibility and register for updates at www.nbi.ie to receive regular notifications related to their own premises as works progresses in their area.  

Broadband Connection Points

In advance of the Fibre-to-the-Home rollout, the NBP provides for the delivery of Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) nationwide. 602 of these sites, including Public BCPs, are now ‘live’. Public BCPs – which include sports clubs, community centres and tourist sites – will provide free public access to high-speed internet in the rollout area. Other BCP categories include schools and marts.

BCPs 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 Waterford include Ballysaggart Community Centre, Knockanore Community Centre, and Mount Melleray Community Hall. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.