Cork's Carrigtwohill to become Ireland's first 'full fibre' town
Broadband network operator SIRO is marking a decade since the company was launched by announcing that Carrigtwohill in Cork will become Ireland's first full fibre town later this summer.
SIRO said that when it completes its build programme in Carrigtwohill in the coming weeks, all homes and businesses within the town will have access to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband.
SIRO was founded as a joint venture between ESB and Vodafone in May 2015, with the objective of delivering high quality fibre connectivity to communities and towns across the country.
The company's fibre broadband is now available to over 650,000 premises in 143 cities and towns in every county in Ireland. SIRO said it is continuing to roll out its network, targeting over 700,000 premises by 2026.
"SIRO's commitment that all premises - homes and businesses - in the town of Carrigtwohill will soon be able to access fibre to the home broadband, as Ireland's first fully fibred town sets the bar for what both the telecoms industry and Government now need to strive to achieve over the coming years," said SIRO CEO John Keaney.
"In an increasingly competitive and digitising global market, Ireland needs every town to be Carrigtwohill - fully fibred and ready to leverage what world leading connectivity can unlock," Mr Keaney said.
"To do this, key stakeholders must now prioritise switching off our outdated copper network," he added.
Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan said that for a decade, SIRO has played a significant role in accelerating Ireland's digital transformation.
"Their work advances the vision set out in the Programme for Government, which sets a number of targets, including the completion of the installation of high-speed fibre broadband to 1.1 million people, including homes, farms, and businesses nationwide, by 2026," Mr O'Donovan said.
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