In April 2014, work commenced on the government’s National Broadband Plan which is a Government initiative for the provision of high speed broadband to all premises in the country – through a combination of commercial and State investment. Unlike previous government interventions in this area (remember the National Broadband Scheme, Rural Broadband Scheme etc), we believe that the National Broadband Plan has the potential to make a meaningful impact on the availability of high quality broadband services, in rural areas.
The objective is to ensure that all premises can avail of a minimum download speed of 30Mb and upload of 6Mb. Such an initiative would of course be widely welcomed. In BBnet we are participating, along with other regional Internet Service Providers, in various industry forums and consultations to ensure that our views are represented to the Department of Communications. We believe that as a provider who, unlike the larger industry players, has invested over the years in bringing quality broadband services to difficult to reach areas, that we have a lot to gain through the National Broadband Plan, when it becomes available. The program itself is scheduled to run from mid 2016 to 2020 – so it will be some time yet before rural customers can enjoy the promised speeds. The tender process is scheduled to get underway after Christmas. It is likely that over €500m of scarce public funds will be required to ensure that this program is a success.
In BBnet we are not sitting idly by, while this unfolds. Ongoing investment in our network has ensured that we are well positioned to work with any of the likely successful bidders. BBnet already offers Go Fibre services with speeds of up to 100Mb, where Eir exchanges have been upgraded. In addition, we are participating in an exciting trial program in rural county Kerry, where state of the art Fibre To The Home infrastructure is being rolled out to 440 homes. Before Christmas 2015, BBnet customers in this rural area will be able to enjoy broadband speeds that are faster than any available in urban areas. Speeds of 1Gb/s download and 100Mb upload are now available in this pocket of rural Kerry!
Over the coming months we will keep a close eye on NBP developments while continuing to invest in our network, to ensure that BBnet customers will continue to receive a high level of service and position BBnet to provide NBP funded services as they are rolled out.
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