enet connects 1,000th rural Irish business with 250Mbps broadband Upload times reduced from hours to minutes with 250Mbs

enet, the open access fibre and wireless network provider, is celebrating connecting over 1,000 rural Irish business to speeds of up to 250Mbps broadband through its Fibre to the Business project.

Launched in April 2014, the Fibre to the Business (FTTB) initiative has seen the company invest over €1.5m in building fibre networks capable of providing 250Mbps broadband speeds directly into every business premises in Claremorris, Loughrea, Ardee and Kilkenny City.

The FTTB initiative was implemented by enet as a strategy to help bridge the ‘digital divide’ in areas which have, in the past, been underserved by high speed broadband. Targeted primarily at small and medium enterprises, the world class broadband and telephone services now available are enabling businesses to take full advantage of digital markets in Ireland and worldwide, and to explore online opportunities.

Conal Henry, CEO of enet commented, “The objective of the Fibre to the Business project is to provide rural Irish SMEs with world class broadband as we know how crucial having reliable connectivity is to businesses if they are to compete internationally, grow and create jobs. We are delighted by the high take rate on of our network in Claremorris, Loughrea, Ardee and Kilkenny, and to see such positive results from the end users in the running of their businesses.”

“Being able to avail of speeds of up to 250Mbps means that businesses in these towns are at a truly competitive advantage to millions of other businesses worldwide. Superfast broadband is essential if digital entrepreneurship is to be promoted. It is also crucial if Ireland is to achieve balanced regional development and job creation. We are proud to be playing our part in making this happen.”

One of the many businesses who are already seeing the benefits of their new fibre connection is O’Brien’s Stationery and Office Supplies in Ardee.

Conor O’Brien of O’Briens Stationary and Supplies commented, “We rely very heavily on broadband in the store to receive orders, communicate with our suppliers, and as part of our printing service. With our previous network the broadband would drop continuously and we often had to turn away customers as a result. Now that we have switched to enet’s fibre network, we have a guaranteed fast and reliable connection. We can complete print jobs and receive larger files in a much faster time which has led to us investing in more printing equipment to satisfy the customer growth! We are incredibly happy with our new network and what it will mean for the future of our business.”

Another business to benefit is the Claremorris Leisure Centre, which employs 27 staff and caters to all needs with a large gym, studio, 25m swimming pool, sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi.

According to Karen Loftus, Manager of the Claremorris Leisure Centre, the fibre network is delivering huge benefits, “The fibre broadband has provided the centre with the tools to improve our training and classes. The days of music ‘buffering’ for streaming in our classes has gone and the ease at which we can do it now has increased the quality and standard of our classes. Likewise the ability to conference via the internet for training purposes has greatly improved reducing expense costs to the company on travel etc. The fibre broadband project has been a success for our facility and the transition process was easy.”

Conal Henry, CEO of enet concluded, “Our Fibre to the Business project is another example of enet’s longstanding commitment to bringing the benefits of fibre broadband to businesses and homes around Ireland. This commitment is one of the reasons why we’ve assembled a comprehensive international team to bid for the National Broadband Plan. Fast broadband speeds are essential for balanced economic development and job creation in rural Ireland and we sincerely hope to play a large role in the implementation of this project.”