SIRO To Invest €450m In 100% Fibre-To-The-Building Broadband Network

200 construction jobs are expected to be created after SIRO, the new brand of ESB and Vodafone Ireland's fibre broadband joint venture company, announced it is investing €450m in building Ireland's first 100% fibre-to-the-building broadband network.

It is expected to offer speeds from 200Mbps to 1,000Mbps to 500,000 premises in fifty regional towns, revolutionising the broadband market in Ireland.

The first 10 locations to be included in SIRO's roll-out are Cavan, Dundalk, Westport, Castlebar, Sligo, Carrigaline, Tralee, Navan, Letterkenny and Wexford. Construction on the network began last September delivering 1 Gigabit speeds to 300 homes in Cavan, and continues this summer. The initial phase of the project, which consists of 50 towns, is expected to be fully rolled-out by the end of 2018 with scope for a second phase that will reach 300 smaller towns.

SIRO also announced its interest in tendering for the National Broadband Plan later this year to deliver the optimum solution for bringing high speed broadband to rural Ireland. Backed by two of Ireland's leading companies – Vodafone and ESB – SIRO already has access to €450m in funding to roll-out the first phase of the project, with additional funding available for future investment and further phases.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD said: "Today's launch of SIRO marks the beginning of an exciting, first of its kind project in Europe and I congratulate ESB and Vodafone for delivering a new kind of connectivity in Ireland, through a highly innovative approach.

"As a result of this project, 50 regional towns in 26 counties – the equivalent of half a million homes and businesses around Ireland – will have access to a 1 Gigabit 100% fibre broadband connection, putting us on a par for high speed connectivity with leading international hubs, such as Tokyo and Hong Kong."

(CD/JP)