Towns in all 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland will benefit from the eir investment.
180 towns and cities throughout Ireland, including every town in the country with more than 1,000 premises, will benefit from a massive fixed network investment programme announced by eir on Monday.
The investment programme will cost more than half a billion euro over five years and pass an additional 1.4 million premises with an FTTH (Fibre To The Home) network capable of speeds up to 10 Gbps.
The ‘Ireland's Fibre Network’ investment marks the next step in the evolution of eir's network and the expansion of the telecoms infrastructure of Ireland. It will follow the completion in June this year of eir's FTTH roll-out to 335,000 rural premises, at a cost of €250 million to eir, with no public subsidy.
By June 2019, eir will have invested more than €600m in high-speed fibre broadband, delivering to more than 80% of premises in Ireland, or 1.9 million homes and businesses across the country.
It is part of a €1bn investment programme, with a €150 million investment in eir’s mobile network already underway, which will allow eir to deliver 4G voice and data coverage across more than 99% of Ireland within two years. The investment will also see the roll out of 5G services in 2019, delivering the most technologically advanced mobile data services across Ireland's cities.
Commenting on the investment, CEO of eir, Carolan Lennon, said: “I am delighted to announce this substantial investment of more than half a billion euro, which is a key step in the evolution of eir’s network, and indeed of the entire telecoms infrastructure in Ireland.
“We will deliver not just the fastest and most extensive fibre network in Ireland, but also one of the most extensive in the whole world. We are also investing to improve eir’s customer care by bringing these services back in-house and provided by 750 new eir employees at three new regional hubs in Sligo, Cork and Limerick.
“Ultimately this investment will mean that eir customers will enjoy the fastest broadband speeds and the best mobile network supported by best in class customer care.”
The complete list of exchange areas covered by the investment programme can be accessed
here.
