Gaeltacht areas to benefit from údarás support for NBI’s fibre build programme 

18 August 2023: National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the new high-speed fibre broadband network under the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP), and Údarás na Gaeltachta have announced a partnership to support the rollout of high speed fibre broadband to homes, businesses and farms in Gaeltacht areas. 

Údarás, the State’s key authority for the development of the Gaeltacht area, is providing parcels of land at key locations for the installation of the core fibre optic equipment to facilitate the delivery of high-speed broadband. The availability of these sites is allowing NBI to build Equipment Accommodation Modules (EAMs) in key locations so they can efficiently and effectively carry out their work with minimum disruption to the surrounding community who will ultimately benefit from the high speed fibre network. 

Údarás is currently facilitating National Broadband Ireland equipment on their premises at Salerno Business Park in Aille West, Co. Galway and plans are in place for further deployments at other sites.

The national broadband rollout continues to gather pace across all 26 counties. Over 166,000 homes, farms, and businesses are ready to connect to high-speed fibre on the NBI network, with 49,000 premises connected so far.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland said: “We want to thank Údarás for their support on our rollout of the National Broadband Plan. The sites they are providing will be a great benefit to us in managing and accelerating our construction work in the west and north west of Ireland.

“The rollout of the NBI network is showing real momentum and over half the network is now either built or under construction. The take-up of high-speed broadband on our network has been fantastic and we’re keen to continue to accelerate our rollout and bring the benefit of high-speed fibre broadband to more and more homes, businesses and farms.”

Tomás Ó Síocháin, Chief Executive Officer, Údarás na Galetachta said: “We’re delighted to support the National Broadband Plan rollout in Gaeltacht areas. The availability of high-speed, reliable broadband plays an enormous role in allowing people and businesses to fully participate in so many aspects of everyday life and work. The broadband rollout will be crucial for local economies in communities across the Gaeltacht and rural Ireland.”

Under the National Broadband Plan, 569,000 premises nationwide are included in the Intervention Area, which was established by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications to identify areas where commercial operators are not currently providing or intending to provide access to high-speed broadband. 

As a wholesale network operator, NBI does not sell fibre broadband directly to end users, rather it enables services from a range of broadband providers or Retail Service Providers (RSPs). As a wholesale provider, NBI will make the new Fibre-to-the-Home network available to all RSPs operating in the Intervention Area.   

Some 62 RSPs have already signed up to sell services on the National Broadband Ireland network and 51 are certified as ready to start providing connections as of today. To see the retail broadband providers that are currently licensed to sell on the National Broadband Ireland network, visit NBI.ie/buy.

National Broadband Ireland will ultimately connect 1.1 million people in every county, 65,000 farms, 44,000 small businesses and 679 schools.