eircom expands planned broadband fiber roll out

Irish national carrier eircom says it will increase the number of homes and businesses it plans to pass with its national fiber-optic network rollout from 1.2 million to 1.4 million. The increase brings the percentage of Irish premises eircom expects to pass by July 2016 to 70% by adding 562 communities across all of the country’s 26 counties.

eircom first unveiled its fiber intentions this past May (see "Eircom unveils national high-speed broadband network"). The national carrier says it will use the new fiber-optic broadband access network to deliver downstream access speeds of “up to” 100 Mbps via its eFibre service.

While the announcement extends the reach of the fiber roll out to what eircom termed “a large number of provincial towns,” the carrier admits that bringing other communities into the fiber fold remains a challenge. eircom says it is looking toward the Government’s National Broadband Plan for assistance reaching these hard-to-reach subscribers.

“This is a very positive development and a critical step forward in ensuring as many people as possible across Ireland have access to high speed fibre broadband. No other operator in Ireland is investing as extensively in fibre broadband,” said Herb Hribar, CEO of the eircom Group.

“Our investment reinforces our commitment to build a network for a nation that connects as many customers as possible to Ireland’s largest telecommunications infrastructure,” he added. “Our announcement today means that 70% of all homes and businesses in Ireland will have access to fiber broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps by December 2016. Today’s announcement maximizes the footprint of fiber broadband that can be currently achieved on a commercial basis in Ireland and we are committed to work with the Government to ensure that the National Broadband Plan provides access to high speed broadband for all.”

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