1,500 homes, businesses and farms near Tuam can now connect to fibre broadband on National Broadband Ireland network

Further 745 homes along Roscommon border near Ballymoe also ready to connect

National Broadband Ireland, the company delivering the new future-proofed, high-speed Fibre-to-the-Home network under the National Broadband Plan on behalf of the Government, has said that 745 Galway  premises in its Castlerea deployment area and 1,500 premises in its Gurteen deployment area can now order a high-speed fibre broadband connection. These areas include Colemanstown and Menlough near Tuam and rural areas near Ballymoe along the Roscommon border. 

40,000 premises in County Galway are included in the State’s Intervention Area, which will see NBI deliver minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second to homes, businesses, farms, and schools. As the biggest investment in rural Ireland since rural electrification, County Galway will receive €153M of Government investment under the National Broadband Plan.

There are almost 2,300 Galway premises in the Castlerea and Gurteen deployment areas that can join the National Broadband Ireland network. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people living near Tuam to visit nbi.ie/map/ and enter their Eircode to see if they are ready to connect.

Works have already been completed in other parts of Galway and there is a total of 16,464 premises that are available to pre-order or order high-speed, reliable broadband across the county with 4,933 connections made so far.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that Galway premises near Tuam can now order high-speed broadband services through the National Broadband Ireland network. This will enable users to experience the life-changing benefits that high-speed broadband provides. Presently the surrounding areas of Galway City, Athenry, Loughrea and Ballinasloe can also order high-speed fibre broadband on the NBI network.”

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 64 RSPs have already signed up to sell services on the National Broadband Ireland network and 56 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 contractors have been on the ground across the country and over 198,766 premises nationwide can order or pre-order broadband on the NBI network so far.

The National Broadband Ireland 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.  

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. 952 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 www.nbi.ie/bcp-map/. An example of some of the locations of Broadband Connection Points in Galway include the Tuam Golf Club, Sylane Hurling Club and Lackagh Heritage Centre and Museum. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.