Nenagh and Roscrea to be connected to SIRO’s 100% fibre optic gigabit broadband network

SIRO, the wholesale broadband operator building Ireland’s 100% fibre-optic broadband network, has announced that it is adding two more towns to its network in Tipperary.

At a meeting of Tipperary County Council (Nenagh Municipal District) SIRO outlined its plans to roll-out its 1 Gigabit (1,000Mbps) broadband network in Nenagh and Roscrea. The two towns join Clonmel, where construction of the network began early in the summer.
 
SIRO’s Gigabit connectivity will allow residents and businesses to avail of broadband that is three times faster than the best service available in Dublin (350 Mbps) and 10 times more powerful than the fastest average internet speed in Ireland. As a result, Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel will be on a par with leading cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo in the international broadband leagues.
 
SIRO’s rollout will commence in the Abbey Court, Brooklands and Ormond Drive areas of Nenagh from the beginning of October. Roscrea will follow in early 2019. When construction in the three towns is completed, approximately 16,000 homes and business premises in Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel will have access to SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic broadband network. As SIRO is an open access wholesale provider, customers will purchase broadband services from one of SIRO’s retail partners when services go live in Clonmel late 2018 and Nenagh in Early 2019.
 
The TLI Group, which has already worked with SIRO in Clonmel and in other towns in the South and South West, has been appointed as build partner for Nenagh and Roscrea.
 
SIRO’s Fibre-to-the-Building technology is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally and is 100% fibre-optic, with no copper at any point to slow it down. For context, downloading a high definition (HD) film of 4 GB (Gigabytes) with a 10 Mbps connection takes an hour - with SIRO it takes 30 seconds. This means that the internet experience of Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel will be transformed, catapulting the town into the international leagues for broadband connectivity, creating a platform for future economic development in the region.
 
Aoife Ní Lochlainn of SIRO said: “SIRO is delighted to be bringing 100% fibre optic broadband to the people of Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel. This will have a transformational effect on the digital environment of these three towns, allowing businesses to compete online with their international peers and helping local entrepreneurs and businesses to bring their ideas to life, trading effortlessly around the world. The internet is now at the centre of or lives, whether it’s talking to our loved ones overseas, streaming movies, or selling products to the farthest corners of the globe. Having the same Gigabit connectivity as a city like Tokyo means that residents in Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel will experience the latest advances in online education, entertainment and remote working giving them the opportunity to pursue their dream without leaving their town.” 
 
SIRO is a joint venture of ESB and Vodafone which is investing €450 million in building Ireland’s first 100% Fibre-to-the-Building broadband network. Using the existing ESB network, SIRO delivers fibre optic cables all the way to the building. This technology, known as Fibre-to-the-Building, has no copper connections at any point to slow down the network and delivers 1 Gigabit speeds.
 
The wholesale broadband operator’s network is now live in 30 towns across the country, with 10 retailers offering connections to over 185,000 homes and businesses. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland.  SIRO has formed partnerships with 10 operators – Vodafone, Digiweb, Sky, BT, Carnsore Broadband, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, eNet, Airwire and WestNet – with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the wholesale broadband market.