3,800 additional Galway Premises will be ready to connect later in 2024 – residents encouraged to sign up for updates.

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company delivering the new future-proofed, high-speed Fibre-to-the-Home network under the National Broadband Plan (NBP) on behalf of the Government, has said that over 1,000 properties in the Galway Gaeltacht near its Lettermore deployment area, which covers the surrounds of Gorumna Island, Lettermore and Lettermullen can now connect to high-speed fibre broadband. NBI has also announced that 3,800 further Co Galway premises will be ready to connect to the NBP network later this year.

The National Broadband Ireland network, which will see NBI deliver minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second to homes, businesses, farms, and schools, is now available to over 1,000 Galway Gaeltacht properties. As the biggest investment in rural Ireland since rural electrification, Co Galway will receive €153 million of Government investment under the National Broadband Plan, with NBI ultimately serving 40,000 Galway premises with reliable high-speed broadband.

There are 1,066 premises in the Lettermore deployment area which can now join the National Broadband Ireland network. National Broadband Ireland is calling on people living near Lettermore and Gorumna to visit nbi.ie/map/ and enter their Eircode to find out how to connect.

Works have already been completed in other parts of Galway and 17,806 premises can already pre-order or order high-speed, reliable broadband across the county with 5,716 connections made so far.

Further areas in NBI’s Galway rollout are set to be completed this year, connecting an additional 3,800 homes, businesses and farms in the county. Over 3,000 rural premises in the surrounds of Portumna will be able to connect to the National Broadband Ireland network in the second half of the year, while almost 800 premises near Kilkerrin village will be ready to connect to fibre broadband before the end of the year. NBI is calling on people living in these areas to visit nbi.ie/eoi to sign up for updates on when broadband will be available in their area.

Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce that Galway premises in the Gaeltacht areas near Lettermore and Gorumna Island 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, over 17,800 homes, businesses and farms in County Galway can order high-speed fibre broadband to connect to the National Broadband Network. This includes almost 2,600 premises in Athenry, over 1,100 in Inverin, over 2,500 in Gort, almost 2,500 in Loughrea, over 1,500 in Gurteen and over 3,700 in the rural areas surrounding Galway city.

“We are looking forward to making connections available to 3,800 additional premises in the Duniry and Kilkerrin deployment areas as the year progresses and encourage residents in those areas to sign up for NBI updates.”

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/buy.

National Broadband Ireland contractors have been on the ground across the country and over 220,648 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. 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 www.nbi.ie/bcp-map/. An example of some of the locations of Broadband Connection Points in Laois include the Lackagh Heritage Centre and Museum Clarenbridge Nursing Home and Sylane Hurling Club. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.