Skibbereen Becomes 51st Town In SIRO’s Rollout

SIRO, the ESB-Vodafone joint venture which is delivering Ireland’s first 100% fibre-optic broadband network nationwide, has announced that Skibbereen will become the 51st town to be included in its national rollout. The announcement was made as part of National Digital Week at Ludgate@Skibbereen. Construction on the network in the town will commence next summer.

Skibbereen was originally selected for a pilot programme to evaluate the potential for a second phase of SIRO’s network rollout that will target small-to-medium sized towns and SIRO has now decided to roll out its network to the whole town. It now becomes the eighth area in Co. Cork to form part of SIRO’s rollout, joining Carrigaline, Ballincollig, Cobh, Mallow, Middleton, Little Island and Cork city. TLI Group was recently awarded the contract to work with SIRO to build the network and they have created 40 jobs for a six month duration as a result of the work.

Commenting, Sean Atkinson CEO of SIRO said: “We are delighted to make Skibbereen our 51st town, revolutionising the broadband experience with our network which is a 100% fibre optic service. Different and better than any other broadband infrastructure in Ireland and with no copper connection at any point, SIRO is powered by light, and will power Skibbereen’s digital future. We have already delivered 1Gb connectivity to Ludgate@Skibbereen, a key factor in helping the team there to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the West Cork region.”

“Skibbereen will now have the same connectivity as leading international hubs such as Tokyo or Hong Kong, which means that residents and businesses will be able to take advantage of the latest technological developments in areas like remote working and telemedicine. The town’s broadband network will be four times faster than that which is available in Dublin, which will help to attract more people and businesses to the region, as well as entrepreneurs starting their own businesses in Skibbereen.”

SIRO is investing €450 million in building Ireland’s first 100% fibre-to-the-building broadband network, offering 1 Gigabit connectivity to 500,000 premises in fifty regional towns. The service, which will be built on the existing electrical network, will be made available on a wholesale basis to all telecoms retailers. The rollout of SIRO’s network is already currently underway in Sligo city and Dundalk town, with services available from broadband retailers later this year. All homeowners and businesspeople within these two locations who are interested in receiving updates on SIRO’s rollout should register at www.siro.ie.