More homes being connected to fibre optic

Homes and businesses in the Kilnaleck, Cootehill and Clones area should be connected to fibre optic broadband inside the next year under the rollout of the National Broadband Plan.

Following a €65M investment, a further 5,439 homes are under the ‘Network Build in Progress’ status, which hopes to have the houses connected by the end of 2024.

This will include 459 in the Clones deployment area; 2,893 in Kilnaleck; 2,079 in Cootehill and eight in Lismacaffrey. A further 1,539 homes will be connected in the Cootehill area under the County Monaghan build.

National Broadband Ireland (NBI) is rolling out the largest infrastructure project in rural Ireland since rural electrification.

NBI plans on making the high speed connection available to 16,519 homes across Cavan under the government’s plan.

The network was available to 3,620 homes in Cavan from March 31, 2023 - 1,359 of which chose to connect to it.

Surveys

Surveys are currently taking place for homes in Aughnacliffe (608), Bailieborough (2,819), Bawnboy (1,581), Carnaross (426), Carrigallen (781), Dowra (537) and Kingscourt (562), with all areas to be connected by December 2026.

An NBI spokesperson told the Celt: “County Cavan is one of the strongest performing Deployment Areas in terms of live connections on the new fibre network, with a connection rate of 37.5%. Over a fifth of the new network is live with a further third under active build. By the end of 2024, at least 55% of the new fibre network will be completed across the county.

“NBI enjoys a strong working relationship with officials in Cavan County Council and the local elected representatives have been hugely engaged with NBI throughout our survey, design and build phases of the project.”

Meanwhile in Monaghan, the NBI rollout has seen 5,472 households connected to the network. The aim of NBI is to make the connection available to 15,692 homes in Monaghan.

Another 4,111 homes are set to be connected before the end of 2023, including five homes in Monaghan, 1,192 in Clones, 28 in Emyvale and 2,886 in Carrickmacross; and 1,539 homes connected in Cootehill.

Speaking about the rollout, Peter Hendrick, CEO, NBI said: “Our teams are working tirelessly on the rollout plan and considerable progress has been made on the developments in Cavan and Monaghan. “As the fast pace of the rollout continues, we are confident in our expertise to progress premises from the construction phase to the order phase. We are currently partnering with retail service providers, and other stakeholders, to connect homes in Cavan and Monaghan. Minimum speeds of 500Mbps will be available.

“Our goal is to improve digital connectivity across the country. Digital connectivity has become a huge part of our everyday lives, and this new Fibre-to-the-Home network will be a key enabler for the sustainability of local businesses and communities.”