Over 2,500 Laois homes, businesses and farms near Mountrath can now connect to fibre broadband on National Broadband Ireland network

Almost 10,000 premises in County Laois can avail of a high-speed connection today

: 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 over 2,500 Laois properties in its Mountrath deployment area can now pre-order a high-speed fibre broadband connection. The area covers the rural surrounds of Mountrath, Abbeyleix and Borris-in-Ossory.

13,000 premises in County Laois 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 Laois will receive €49M of Government investment under the National Broadband Plan.

There are 2,533 Laois premises in the Mountrath deployment area that can join the National Broadband Ireland network. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people living near Mountrath 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 Laois and there is a total of 9,874 premises that are available to pre-order or order high-speed, reliable broadband across the county with 2,419 connections made so far. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people to visit nbi.ie/map/ and enter their Eircode to see if they are ready to connect.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that Laois premises near Mountrath 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, almost 10,000 homes, businesses and farms in County Laois can order high-speed fibre broadband to connect to the National Broadband Network. This includes almost 1,900 premises in Ballylynan and over 3,600 in the surrounds of Portlaoise.

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 66 RSPs have already signed up to sell services on the National Broadband Ireland network and 59 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/where-can-i-buy/.

National Broadband Ireland contractors have been on the ground across the country and over 212,771 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 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. 955 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 nbi.ie/bcp-map/. An example of some of the locations of Broadband Connection Points in Laois include the Vicarstown Community Centre, Shanganamore Community Centre and Emo ‘Old School’ Community Centre. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.