Source: Waterford News & Star
By: Jade Wilson
The company working to deliver the Government’s National Broadband Plan have announced that surveying works in several areas of Waterford are now underway.
National Broadband Ireland (NBI) contractors have been on the ground for eight months now and so far 120,000 premises nationwide have been surveyed. The process involves physically walking the routes and documenting images, notes and measurements of poles, cables and under-ground ducts in each area, NBI explained.
This process is to enable network design solutions for the provision of a fibre network to 544,000 premises nationwide, identified by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communication as not being served with adequate broadband speeds.
In Waterford, there are 15,000 premises, including homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools, which have been identified by the DECC as not being served with adequate broadband speeds. This equates to 24% of all premises in the county.
Waterford will see an investment of €59m in the new high speed fibre network to enable e-learning, remote monitoring of livestock or equipment, e-health initiatives, better energy efficiency in the home, and more remote working.
The areas among the first to be surveyed in Waterford include: Cheekpoint, Waterford City, Passage East, Kilmeaden, Dunmore East and Tramore.
All NBI contractors will carry official ID and essential worker letters and have received training on adhering to all Covid-19 guidelines. They will have vehicles, PPE and signage with both their own and NBI logos.
NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said the company was pleased with the progress being made. “We are acutely aware that people want access to high speed broadband as soon as possible, and our goal is to deliver that,’ he said.
“Survey designs are an important part of mapping out how every home and business will be connected, and these will provide the blueprint for how the NBI fibre is laid,” Mr Hendrick added.
