Joe Lavin
Chief Commercial Officer, National Broadband Ireland (NBI)
Fibre optic broadband is being rolled out across Ireland, enabling access to a high-speed internet connection — and may even save you money.
The Government’s National Broadband Plan, Ireland’s largest ever telecommunications project, is expected to be completed towards the end of 2026, and it’s already making a particular difference to rural communities that either had no or limited access to high-speed broadband.
Fibre is much faster than traditional copper broadband. “Fibre aims to provide homes and businesses with download and upload speeds of up to one gigabit,” explains Joe Lavin, Chief Commercial Officer of NBI, the company charged with designing, building and operating the new network. “That’s important from an equitable perspective because it gives everyone, irrespective of location, the same opportunities for remote learning, home working, streaming entertainment and remote consultations with a doctor.”
Switch to save
Plus, switching to fibre could actually save you money. “It’s unlikely that switching to fibre will increase your monthly bills,” says Lavin. “Our network features more than 50 broadband providers who’ll all be competing for your business with new products and promotions. So, you could end up spending less but getting a significantly better internet service. ”
Currently, over 80% of the network has been built, and of the 564,000 premises in NBI’s rollout area, 450,000 can now order fibre. More than 155,000 have taken up the service so far. According to Lavin, sign-ups continue to grow daily, with the main reason for not joining yet being a lack of awareness that fibre is available in their area, particularly in rural locations. Others are still tied to existing contracts, but NBI expects them to switch in time.
Switching to fibre is easy — and January is a good time for it when people are looking for a good deal post-Christmas. “When you contact your broadband provider and say you want to sign up, we’ll arrange for one of our technicians to bring fibre into your home,” says Lavin. “When choosing a provider, make sure you ask if the price will increase after the minimum term is over. When it does come to an end, find out what deals they can offer you to stay and see if any bundles or add-ons are available.”
“With copper switch-off coming down the tracks in the coming years, everyone will have to migrate off the legacy networks at some stage,” says Lavin. “So, you might as well switch to fibre now and maybe even save yourself money.”
