Author: Nicola Cooke

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company working on behalf of the Government to deliver high speed broadband as part of the National Broadband Plan (NBP), has surveyed homes and premises in parts of Wicklow.

Surveying

NBI contractors have been on the ground now surveyed more than 70,000 premises in 17 counties. More recently, surveys have been ongoing in parts of Wicklow including Powerscourt, Kilmacanoge, Calary, Greystones, Newcastle, Delgany, Killiskey, Glenealy, Kilcoole, and parts of Roundwood. Other areas under surveying include townlands in the Blessington area and Lackan, Lugglass, and Hollywood.

This involves physically walking the routes and documenting images, notes and measurements of  the poles, cables and underground ducts in each area.  This will enable design solutions for the provision of a fibre network to every premises in the Intervention Area – a map of almost 537,000 premises nationwide identified by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) as not being served with adequate broadband services.

Wicklow

In Wicklow, there are 14,871 premises the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools. This equates to 23% of all premises in the county. Under the National Broadband Plan, Wicklow 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 more remote working – all of which support the National Development Plan (NDP).

The first homes in Wicklow will be connected early next year, while over 115,000 premises nationwide will be passed and available for connection with future-proofed high-speed FTTH (Fibre-to-the-Home) within the next 18 months.

Further Deployment Details

NBI has updated its website www.nbi.ie with a search tool to enable the public to check whether their premises is within the rollout area, and to show indicative dates for early surveying areas. All areas must firstly be surveyed to enable low level designs for building out the new high speed fibre network. The first of these – for the townlands around Carrigaline in Cork and in Cavan – are now complete, and connections are expected by the end of the year. The next connections will be in Galway, Tralee, and Wexford in early 2021. There are 227 ‘deployment areas’ nationwide across 26 counties where the fibre works will take place.

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs)

Separately, the BCP delivery project is well underway and NBI surveying of approximately 300 locations throughout Ireland is progressing well, which will deliver connectivity in the community in the near future.

These facilities – which include GAA clubs, schools, community centres and other public facilities – will provide free access to high speed internet in the rollout area. These will pave the way for rural communities in the IA to receive the benefits of broadband, from mobile working, e-learning and mobile banking, to digital tourism. BCPs in Wicklow include Clermont House, Killurney Community Centre, Brockagh Resource Centre and St Kevin’s School, Laragh and Dunlavin GAA Club. Some schools will be connected  for educational access, in the rollout area, as part of the BCP initiative.

BCP locations are subject to change and a number of the premises initially identified are in the process of being replaced with alternative locations. The remaining BCPs remain on track for delivery and will be operated by Vodafone.

Progress on the ground

NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said the company is pleased with the progress being made: “We started physical work on the ground in January and I am delighted to report that this is going very well. We are acutely aware that people want access to high speed broadband as soon as possible, and our goal is to deliver that.

“Future proofed fibre broadband will be key to ensuring that Ireland is fully and reliably connected in this digital era – and for future generations to come. The BCPs are a milestone in delivering access to high speed internet in the Intervention Area, and we’re working hard to ensure the first BCP launches are delivered in the next few months.”

The public can log onto www.nbi.ie for more information or to sign up for updates in their area.

They can also call 0818 624 624 (local call rate) or email contactus@nbi.ie.