Eircoms high speed broadband promises 1gbps for mullingar
At present, 20,000 homes and businesses in Westmeath can access high-speed broadband but by next year, a further 10,000 will be in the same position, eircom has announced – and speeds are set to soar in Mullingar, Athlone and Kinnegad.
Mullingar, Athlone and Moate are at present able to access broadband speeds of up to 100 Mb/s through eircom’s Open Access Network, thanks to a €7m investment programme by eircom in the Westmeath broadband infrastructure.
However, by mid 2017, using Fibre To The Home (FTTH) technology, eircom’s Open Access network will bring speeds of 1Gbps (1,000 Mb/s) to Mullingar, Kinnegad and Athlone.
The Open Access network is available to any broadband provider, not just eircom. There are currently 15 telecoms companies using the network to provide services across Ireland.
By August of this year, the same 100 Mb/s speeds will be available at Castlepollard, Crookedwood, Delvin, Killucan, Kinnegad, Milltownpass, Moyvore, Multyfarnham, Rochfortbridge and Tyrrellspass. And, by the middle of next year, Lismacaffrey, Kilbeggan and Ballinahown will also enjoy 100 Mb/s access.
The currently available fast speeds of 100Mb/s mean that a song can be downloaded in 1/3 of a second, a full album in just eight seconds while a feature length HD movie will take just 2 minutes to download.
When 1Gbps becomes available, with a direct fibre connection, 20 songs a second can be downloaded, or three HD movies in less than two minutes.
A total of 130km of fibre cable has been laid in Westmeath since the upgrade commenced a year ago in Athlone, Moate and Mullingar and it is this that has brought the high-speed broadband to 20,000 homes and businesses in these areas.
Mullingar has 10,000 premises which can access the high-speed network through 37 live cabinets after 44km of fibre cable was laid.
Carolan Lennon, MD of eircom Wholesale, said: “eircom is currently engaged in a €7m network upgrade in Westmeath and in the past two years we have completed two thirds of our programme. Between now and mid-2016 we will invest a further €2.5m in upgrading an additional 13 communities in Westmeath.”
For rural communities not covered by eircom’s commercial high-speed broadband rollout the government plans to issue a tender, under the National Broadband Plan, to bring reliable high-speed broadband to all areas of the country. Ms Lennon added: “eircom strongly agrees with the strategic aims of the National Broadband Plan to ensure that no area gets left behind when it comes to high-speed broadband, the critical infrastructure of the 21st Century.
“Westmeath has many rural areas that will fall under the remit of the National Broadband plan, and eircom very much looks forward to competing to win the tender when it issues.”
• see fibrerollout.ie