National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the new high speed fibre broadband network under the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) today announced that surveying works in several areas of Cork are well underway.

Surveying

NBI contractors have been on the ground across the country for fifteen months and over 201,000 premises nationwide have been surveyed to date. This involves physically walking the routes and documenting images, notes and measurements of the poles, cables and underground ducts in each area.  These vital survey works enable “Fibre -to-the-Home” network designs to be completed for each of the 544,000 premises in the Intervention Area, as identified by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communication (DECC).

Cork

In Cork, there are 79,424 premises in the Intervention Area (IA), which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools. This equates to 29% of all premises in the county. Under the National Broadband Plan, Cork will see an investment of €314M 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 facilitate increased levels of remote working.

NBI crews have made substantial progress in Cork, where the following areas have been surveyed: Dromdihy, Shanakill, Knockaverry, Knocknacally, Knockadoon, Clonpriest West, Lissacrue, Pillmore, Creighmore, Inchiquin, Whitebarn, Ballykinealy, Fortyacres, Ballydaniel, Cornaveigh, Glenawilling, Ballinvarrig Upper, Ballypherode, Burges Lower and Lisglasheen.

These initial works pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre on poles/ducts and includes the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of sub duct into existing ducts, for the fibre to be installed. In January 2021, premises in townlands around Carrigaline became among the first to be connected under the National Broadband Plan.

All NBI contractors will also carry official ID cards 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.

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs)

In advance of the Fibre-to-the-Home roll out, the NBP provides for the delivery of Broadband Connection Points (BCP’s) nationwide. 152 of these sites are now ‘live’ and have both internal and external broadband access. These facilities – which include GAA clubs, community centres and tourist sites – will provide free public access to high speed internet in the rollout area.

These BCP’s 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 /bcp-map/. Locations of Broadband Connection Points in county Cork will include Inch Community Centre, Ballindangan Community Centre, and Whitechurch Community Centre. Primary schools in the Intervention Area are also being connected for educational access as part of the NBP.

Progress on the ground

NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said the company was pleased with the progress being made: “We started physical work on the ground in January 2020 and despite the challenging environment caused by Covid-19, we’ve grown and mobilised the team working on the project across all 26 counties and making good progress. We are acutely aware that people want access to high-speed broadband as soon as possible, and our goal is to deliver that.”

“Survey and designs are an important part of mapping out how every home, farm and business will be connected, and they provide the blueprint for how the NBI fibre is laid. The BCPs are also a key milestone in delivering access to high-speed internet in the Intervention Area, and we’re delighted to see these being connected for access – internally and externally – right across the county.”

NBI’s website www.nbi.ie has a search tool to enable the public to check whether their premises is within the rollout area, and to show indicative dates for areas being surveyed. There is also a facility to register for updates on this. NBI’s contact centre can be reached at 0818 624 624 (lo-call) or contactus@nbi.ie.