SIRO, Blacknight & Cartoon Saloon: Making Magic Happen

Cartoon Saloon was in the final stages of completing “Wolfwalkers”, one of the most eagerly anticipated animated features of the year, when COVID-19 broke out. Working with its broadband partner Blacknight, the Oscar-nominated animation studio was able to connect to SIRO’s Gigabit 100% fibre broadband network, the gold standard for internet connectivity, to ensure that a remote working solution could be put in place to enable them to put the finishing touches to their latest movie and other shows. While hundreds of thousands are working remotely across Ireland, connectivity into the office has never been more important in terms of a company’s ability to serve their remote workforce. By connecting Cartoon Saloon’s studio in Kilkenny to SIRO’s Fibre-to-the-Building network this has doubled their bandwidth speed and increased the reliability and performance, enabling the company to provide access to large files and office applications remotely via a secure VPN solution as well as enabling employees, clients and partners access and share very large files across the globe. Commenting on the partnership, Mark Mullery, Studio Technical Director, Cartoon Saloon, and Assistant Director of the new feature, Wolfwalkers said: “Gigabit broadband enabled new ways of working, giving us the capability to quickly share content with any corner of the globe, whether it’s Hollywood or Beijing. Reliable and fast remote access has been crucial since the initial lockdown and Blacknight were able to provide us with a seamless solution with SIRO’s Gigabit broadband service. As a result, we have been able to put the finishing touches to our latest feature with minimal delay.” Michele Neylon, CEO and Co-founder, Blacknight added: “Remote workers have to be able to have the same digital experience no matter where they are working from and we have been able to provide Cartoon Saloon with the perfect solution thanks to SIRO’s Gigabit broadband network. Being able to tailor services for our customers specific needs has always been what has made Blacknight stand out from the competition, with the speed and capability of our rollout for Cartoon Saloon highlighting how we are helping businesses succeed despite COVID-19.” Ronan Whelan, SIRO’s Chief Commercial Officer, also commented: “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, SIRO has been helping people and businesses across the country do life differently. Our Gigabit broadband network is on a par with what is available in Tokyo, which means that Cartoon Saloon’s employees and clients across the world have been able to successfully collaborate seamlessly using online services. The increased speed and reliability of their office internet link has been crucial to this success, as has employees improving the speed and reliability of their home internet by connecting to our Gigabit broadband.” With nearly 100,000 customers across the globe, Blacknight is known as a market leader in the provision of hosting and co-location services ranging from small single web site hosting to complex backup, connectivity, colocation and security solutions. As a SIRO retail partner, Blacknight is able to offer SME and Enterprise customers access to the wholesale broadband provider’s €450 million Gigabit broadband network, which is 100% Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and has no copper connections at any point to slow the service down. No other connection can compare with 100% fibre, which supports symmetric speeds of 1 Gigabit, 50 times the upload speeds of traditional copper networks. The SIRO network now covers 351,000 premises, with services now live or under construction in 21 counties across the country. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland. 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. For context, downloading a high definition movie that is 4 gigabytes in size with a standard 10 Mbps connection would usually take an hour. In contrast, it takes 30 seconds with SIRO’s Gigabit broadband. Find out more about the SIRO 100% Fibre Network for Business.

Pure Telecom, Ireland’s high-speed broadband and telecoms provider, today announces that it has signed a deal with BT Ireland that will provide Pure Telecom with access to SIRO’s nationwide high-speed fibre broadband network, consisting of 338,000 premises across Ireland to date. As SIRO continues to connect urban and regional premises with Gigabit broadband, the BT deal – worth up to €10M – will allow Pure Telecom to expand its reach countrywide. BT won the highly competitive tender for its established network capability and excellent track record in delivering a leading edge service to Ireland’s wholesale broadband providers. Under the deal, BT will provide Pure Telecom with a comprehensive managed service, that helps bring its ultrafast broadband “Fibre to the Premises” (FTTP) product offering to the market. The service will be made available across Ireland at every location where there are FTTP services are available. The infrastructure agreement will help Pure Telecom to solidify its position as a major competitor in the Irish broadband market by driving down costs for consumers. The company has experienced a 30% increase in demand for its broadband services since the outbreak of COVID-19, which has been the catalyst for a rapid and widespread shift to remote working. Through its strategic partnerships, Pure Telecom can access existing and new broadband infrastructure across Ireland, enabling it to bring high-speed broadband to rural and urban premises as soon as it becomes available. With more people working from home, a reliable, uninterrupted high-speed broadband service is increasingly important. The SIRO Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) network covers more than 338,000 homes and businesses in 45 towns around Ireland. Because FTTH technology has no copper connection (which can cause congestion and slow speeds) it delivers a 1 Gigabit (1,000 Megabit) internet connection which can take care of anyone’s remote working and personal needs. As a result, there is no impact on the quality of service if a household has multiple devices in use at one time with data intensive services like video conferencing or streaming content. Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom, said: “At Pure Telecom, we are consistently striving to get more people and businesses access to high-speed broadband. Too many homes and businesses in Ireland still don’t have fast internet access and it is detrimental to our society and economy – particularly at a time when everyone has been advised to work from home where possible. We have observed a significant increase in demand for our services since COVID-19 restrictions were introduced and we expect these to have a permanent impact on how people work and where. It has therefore never been more important for people to have the high-speed connectivity they need to work productively from their homes. “By partnering with BT, we will be one of the first providers to offer high-speed broadband to Irish towns and villages who previously didn’t have access. SIRO has been very proactive in its rollout of 100% fibre-optic technology and we look forward to being able to offer it to even more customers.” Peter Evans, Director of Wholesale, BT Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Pure Telecom and SIRO to bring yet more choice and connectivity to broadband users across Ireland, particularly in more regional towns. In the wake of COVID-19, as people have come to depend more on technology to communicate than ever before, it’s important that consumers and businesses have a wide range of services to choose from that best suit their needs.” Ronan Whelan, Chief Commercial Officer, SIRO, said: “COVID-19 has fundamentally changed how we work and live, so the importance of fast, reliable broadband has never been more evident. With 100% fibre-optic FTTH technology, SIRO’s Gigabit broadband is the most powerful in Ireland, helping people do life differently. This latest agreement highlights how SIRO is driving competition in the broadband market and helping to combat the digital divide that currently exists in Ireland. Pure Telecom’s commitment to provide customers with the best connectivity, competitive pricing and best-in-class service through our wholesale network is great news for residential and business customers throughout the country.”

ESB Telecoms Ltd has partnered with SIRO to roll out a nationwide end-to-end ethernet network service. The launch of the new service offering– the Ethernet Tail Extension – will allow telecoms operators to provide their commercial customers with high-speed business connectivity. This service will be made available in 13 urban markets across all 4 provinces and will provide national synchronous ethernet bandwidth solutions between 100Mb and 1Gb. ESB Telecoms Ltd, the wholesale telecommunications provider, has provided flexible fibre and tower solutions to the industry for more than 20 years. In this latest product offering, fibre optic backhaul will be used to connect to SIRO’s network access and provide telecom operators with an end-to-end solution. As well as high-speed connectivity, this new product will enable telecom operators to transfer data from their customer’s premises back to a data centre offsite without having to pay for additional costly infrastructure development or separate backhaul solutions. The Ethernet Tail Extension offering will also allow telecoms operators to expand into new coverage areas and broaden their reach nationwide.

Gigabit Broadband is Essential for Business Operations

Commenting on the Partnership, Managing Director of ESB Telecoms, Rory McGowan, noted: “Irish business organisations are adapting their IT environments faster than ever before in order to address the challenges and opportunities created by an increasingly digital world. These companies require super reliable and ultrafast connections from their telecoms service providers to transmit the mission critical data that is becoming their lifeblood” Rory added, “In order to enhance our support to our customers and Irish businesses in general, we are delighted to announce the launch of our Ethernet Tail Extension product, in partnership with SIRO, which will allow our customers to adapt, grow and thrive in a changing world at the most competitive cost.” Identifying the need to provide a nationwide solution, ESB Telecoms partnered with SIRO to maximise the provider’s expanding network. For end-users, the guaranteed speeds of 1Gb in both directions is essential for cloud connectivity, video streams and business continuity purposes SIRO’s Chief Commercial Officer, Ronan Whelan, added “We are delighted to partner with ESB Telecoms to deliver our fastest ever enterprise product, providing uncontended speeds to businesses across Ireland. This latest partnership is another example of how SIRO is fundamentally driving competition in the Irish broadband market. Connectivity is the nervous system of the country and COVID-19 has further emphasised the need for reliable, Fibre to the Premises broadband. Our partnership with ESB Telecoms will enable us to further support the Digital Agenda in Ireland, ensuring businesses can perform to the best of their ability without archaic copper technology slowing them down.” The Ethernet Tail Extension is now available from ESB Telecoms Ltd. For more information please contact salesenquiries@esbtelecoms.ie.

New data from SIRO, based on usage of its broadband network, has shown that broadband usage levels have dipped by over 10% in recent weeks as a result of the reopening of schools. There is a direct link between the drop in demand and the typical school run time between 08.15 and 09.00 on weekdays, in contrast to when schools were shut, with data usage higher during that period. Similarly, an evening spike in data usage now happens at 21.40 in the evenings, thirty minutes earlier than usual, due to children going to sleep earlier at night. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the average household’s data usage has rise to over 16 Gigabytes per day, which is the equivalent of downloading four High Definition movies on a daily basis. Naturally with the majority of people still continuing to work from home, data usage during the day had increased as a result of households using services like Zoom, Netflix, Disney Plus and Fortnite. The top three busiest locations on the SIRO broadband network were Cork, Limerick and Dublin North West respectively. Cork and Limerick are neck and neck, with Limerick’s data usage coming in higher last Monday and Tuesday, but with the Rebel County ultimately topping the chart. There was similar levels of high usage in Newbridge and Drogheda, coming in fourth and fifth in terms of using, but with both locations alternating for fourth spot every other day. Commenting on the data, Ronan Whelan, Chief Commercial Officer of SIRO, said: “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, broadband usage has fundamentally changed as our kitchens became our home office and school suddenly switched to the living room. Remote working is now a reality and there is no doubt that even after the pandemic ends, that we will move to a new way of working, alternating our workdays between the office and our home. It has also proven that Gigabit broadband is the future, as Fibre-to-the-Home technology is able to cater for the demand of households using multiple devices during the course of the day, so there’s no chance of your video conference call dropping, when someone in another room decides to watch a show on a streaming service.”

The SIRO 100% Fibre 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. For context, downloading a high definition movie that is 4 gigabytes in size with a standard 10 Mbps connection would usually take an hour. In contrast, it takes 30 seconds with SIRO’s Gigabit broadband. The SIRO network now covers 340,000 premises, with services now live or under construction in 21 counties across the country. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland.  SIRO has formed partnerships with Vodafone, Sky, Digiweb, Pure Telecom, Carnsore Broadband, Airwire, Kerry Broadband and Rocket Broadband, with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the wholesale broadband market.

SIRO, the open-access wholesale broadband provider delivering Ireland’s first 100% fibre-optic broadband network, has announced that its Gigabit broadband services are now available to over 15,000 homes and businesses in Galway city and the surrounding area after construction began last year. Services are already live through SIRO’s retail partners in Galway city, Oranmore, Ballybane, Doughiska, Roscam, Knocknacarra, Salthill, Renmore, Rahoon, Oranhill, Shantalla, Mervue, Ballybrit, Murrough and Castlegar. The €20 million construction project is already halfway through its rollout, with its Gigabit broadband services to be made available to another 15,000 premises. Development of the 100% fibre broadband network is being led by TLI Group – SIRO’s construction partner – who are contacting residents and business owners of premises due to be included in the next stage of the rollout.

High-Speed Broadband Available in Galway

SIRO’s Gigabit connectivity enables Galway residents and businesses to avail of Fibre-to-the-Building technology, which is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally. For context, downloading a high definition movie that is 4 gigabytes in size with a standard 10 Mbps connection would usually take an hour. In contrast, it takes 30 seconds with SIRO’s Gigabit broadband. Anyone wishing to avail of SIRO’s services can simply visit SIRO.ie and enter their Eircode to see if their premises is connected, before contacting one of their retail partners in Galway – Sky, Vodafone, Digitweb, Pure Telecom or Airwire –  to sign up. Commenting on the latest milestone, SIRO Director of Corporate Affairs, Stephen O Connor said “SIRO’s 100% fibre broadband provides the speed and reliability for you to do life different. SIRO is 100% fibre all the way into the home, with no copper at any point in the network, offering ultrafast speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second. There’s no limit to how many devices you can connect without slowing down performance. As a result, anyone connected in Galway will have the same world class broadband experience that is available in Tokyo.” 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 SIRO network now covers 340,000, with services now live or under construction in 21 counties across the country. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland.  SIRO has formed partnerships with Vodafone, Sky, Digiweb, Pure Telecom, Carnsore Broadband, Airwire, Kerry Broadband and Rocket Broadband  with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the wholesale broadband market. To check if you can avail of SIRO, visit siro.ie/search-your-eircode

September is usually a busy time for all of us – with summer holidays wrapped up, the adults back in work mode and the kids back in school. It is also the time when most households and families are looking to switch broadband. This year, given the worrying developments around COVID-19, more than ever we are looking to get good broadband in place so that we can continue to work, keep fit, entertain and socialise from the comfort and safety of our own home. There are two main broadband technologies in Ireland: Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) which uses copper at some points in the network, and Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) with 100% fibre-optic cables - the internationally recognised gold standard of broadband technology. We have spoken at length about the confusion around these two technologies: what is 100% fibre versus part-fibre broadband, the differences in speed and reliability, where can you avail of fibre and so on. This September, we have taken a step further and partnered with three popular price comparison sites – Switcher, Bonkers and Choosey to display the SIRO-Powered Broadband message where the retailer is selling a SIRO product. This ensures that the end consumer is getting SIRO as well as the speeds and reliability of 100% fibre – with no confusion whether the product is fibre or part-fibre.

SIRO-Powered broadband on Switcher:

On Bonkers:

On Choosey:

Next time you’re comparing broadband on one of these sites, look out for the SIRO-Powered message that ensures you’re getting SIRO gold-standard 100% fibre broadband and nothing less. For now, why not Search your Eircode to see if you can connect to SIRO?

Fast, reliable broadband remains one of life's essential commodities, as we prepare ourselves for the 'new normal' world following the COVID-19 pandemic. If the search for broadband leaves you utterly confused, you are not alone. As the network provider of Ireland's first 100% fibre broadband network, we receive many queries, especially around fibre technology. Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) has been recognised as the gold standard of broadband and the only future-proofed solution, however there is a still a lot of confusion around what is 100% fibre, where you can get fibre, the difference between fibre and copper, to name but a few. In this article, we aim to debunk some of the most common myths, so that you can be more informed in your broadband search.

• Myth 1: fibre offers the same speeds as copper.

If you have a fibre connection with speeds of up to 100Mbps, it is likely that your connection is not 100% fibre. This is because speeds largely depend on the journey the signal has to take to and from your router. There are two main technologies used in fibre-optic broadband: Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) and Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH). In an FTTC connection, copper is used for the last few feet connecting the telephone exchange cabinet on the street and the router in your house. All the speed-of-light goodness of fibre optics is lost during this last stretch, and that’s why FTTC generally delivers speeds of up to 100Mbps. On the other hand, SIRO FTTH network connects 100% fibre optic cables all the way to your home, delivering speeds up to 1000Mbps. Fibre is faster, more reliable, and superior to copper in many ways, as it removes all the bottlenecks commonly seen in a copper network. You can connect as many devices as you like, play HD games, watch Netflix and download movies without slowing down your connection.

• Myth 2: I can only get fibre in urban centres (like Dublin)

The sesismic shift towards remote working is here and here to stay, which gives us the freedom to live anywhere and work from anywhere. A common misperception is that only residents of populated towns can get fibre. In reality, SIRO is working hard to bring FTTH connectivity to regional communities all over Ireland. We are already live in 21 counties, with more than 335,000 premises connectable to the SIRO network – view our full roll-out map. If you can live and work from anywhere, why not the scenic town of Westport, the medieval city of Kilkenny, the coastal gem of Donegal. SIRO 100% fibre broadband offers the connectivity you need to turn your dream location into the perfect office space - so why not search your dream address and see if it's SIRO-ready?

• Myth 3: fibre is expensive

Depending on your area, the pricing of fibre packages is very competitive compared to traditional copper packages. We have partnered with 10 retailers to bring you a wide range of fibre broadband plans. For example, Vodafone Ireland’s Gigabit Broadband plan starts at €30/month for 12 months for speeds of up to 1Gbps. If Digiweb is available in your area, you can avail of their Electric Broadband Plan starting at €24.95/month. Sky Ireland also has a number of fibre packages ranging from €30 to €50 monthly to suit your data needs. To avail of these offers, search your address to see what retailers are available in your area.

• Myth 4: fibre requires troublesome installation

Since fibre is brought to your address using the ESB electricity network, it is very simple to install and disruption is minimal. The technician responsible for the install will take time to discuss with you the process and agree on the most suitable entry point and route for the fibre optic cable inside your home. Learn about the full installation process.

• Myth 5: I need a phone line

This is a question we get asked repeatedly, and the definitive answer is that you do NOT need a phone line to avail of SIRO-powered fibre broadband. We deliver SIRO to your home via the ESB meter box - cables are inserted into ducts that already exist in the home. The bottom line In a nutshell, Fibre-to-the-Home is the fastest, most reliable broadband technology available,. As a network provider, we understand the need and have seen first-hand the demand for fast, reliable broadband, especially as COVID-19 continues to impact our lives in unpredecedented ways. Getting a 100% fibre connection now enables you to shape and future-proof your life however you see fit. Sounds promising? Why not search your address to see if your home is connectable to SIRO.

2020 has become the year of remote working, pushing companies large and small into adopting radical new ways of working and use of new technologies, whether they were ready for them or not. For businesses in certain sectors, switching to remote working has provided them with a means for surviving the crisis. Prior to COVID-19, SIRO was already well-positioned to manage the transition to working from home. Since our launch five years ago, the SIRO culture has encouraged us to embrace remote working as part of our work lives. In March of this year, like many others, we were forced to make immediate and far reaching changes to our work practices. However, the pre-existing openness and experience of remote working has certainly helped the company, and those of us who work for it, adapt to this new reality. While the new reality may have forced companies into taking a more digital approach, now that we have all experienced remote working and know that it’s possible, there will be no return to the status quo; remote working for many of us will remain a significant part of our working lives. As an indication of what might be waiting for us post-Covid, the recent proposed Government Programme indicates that remote working could be a more permanent way of life as “all public sector employers will have to have 20% of staff working remotely or from home by 2021” However, if this crisis teaches us anything about our work practices, it is that remote working requires more support than just grabbing your laptop and taking it home. If we are to successfully embrace the opportunities remote working offers, it’s important that we are conscious of our colleagues’ needs and aware of the inevitable challenges working from home can bring.

Working from Home: More than a Perk of the Job

With a head office on the edge of Dublin and workforce distributed nationwide, SIRO has always sought to facilitate remote working where possible. Prior to Covid-19, this opportunity to work remotely was embraced by 84% of SIRO employees. We knew from our annual workplace surveys that our flexible working approach was highly rated by our colleagues, however, we wanted to know how the SIRO community felt about the possible benefits of remote working in particular. The 2019 Government report on remote working found that 43.5% of remote workers were primarily motivated by greater flexibility and 40.5% by a reduced commute. The average SIRO employee commutes 58km to their place of work, much of that can be spent sitting in traffic on the M50. It’s not hard to image the improvements to quality of life that remote working, even just a day a week, can bring. Better work-life balance, reduced commute time and more time for family life all scored over 60% in the survey; comments included: “It is possible to work and meet a family obligation from time to time without feeling additional stress/ pressure.” However, more time for community and voluntary activities, scored an impressive 40%. Anecdotally we know that many of our colleagues spend a considerable amount of their free time on the side of sports pitches training their local teams and volunteering for many good causes. Spending time with family and enjoying and contributing to our local communities adds to the richness of our lives but can often be sacrificed when we fail to get the work-life balance right. Getting the work-life balance right also brings benefits to our work. Higher productivity and improved morale (80% and 68% respectively) were considered to be benefits of working remotely by SIRO respondents. This is turn was thought to make SIRO an attractive company to work for (77%). “When I get the chance to do work at home I can work faster with less distractions and complete a lot more work”  “Contributes to SIRO as a talent-retention mechanism” This is not only true for SIRO employees, a 2018, Stanford study found that those who telecommuted worked a full true shift more than those who worked in the office.  

“Overworked or Remotely Working?”

While remote workers can experience an increase in general productivity, it’s important to be aware of the risks that remote working can have on an employee’s general wellbeing. Digital Ocean reported that 82% of professionals who work remotely feel overworked and a further 61% feel disconnected from their in-office co-workers. Overworking was a growing concern among employees who regularly work remotely who took part in a study conducted by Buffer, which found that 22% of remote workers have trouble unplugging after work. By removing the daily commute, you are removing the transition between the individual’s home and the workplace. Instead, the home becomes the workplace, making it difficult to “switch off” at the end of the day. While the onus is on the employee to establish a healthy routine that signals the beginning and end of each workday, it is imperative that a company provides support in managing their employee's wellbeing. There are tools designed to provide support that can prove useful, such as Microsoft’s ‘MyAnalytics’. This feature analyses a person’s use of Outlook, Calendar and active email hours to identify patterns where workers “quiet hours” are interrupted and identify how much “focus time” (hours outside meetings) employees have to complete tasks. This can help people identify unhealthy patterns associated with burn out quickly and create effective boundaries.  

Managing Relationships – Making Remote Working Work for your Company

Just like in the office, regular communication is key to effective management. But even managers need support, our line managers have a dedicated weekly Teams channel that provides support and advice for managing teams remotely. In an office environment, we’re often more casual and use social cues and tone of voice to communicate, but when we work at a distance, this is harder to manage. We may need to be more explicit in our written communications and be clear and transparent in our schedule, such as updating our status when taking a break to signal to team members that we are unavailable for calls. Isolation remains a risk, but by maintaining regular, casual communication with teammates we can help mitigate it. At SIRO, we encourage our colleagues to meet online regularly both for work and social purposes. Each day, we open a channel for everyone to catch up socially, simulating our lunch culture in the office. In addition, we established a virtual SIRO book club, where colleagues across different departments can interact in a relaxed, non-work-related environment. Our twice weekly yoga classes on Zoom have proven popular, giving people the opportunity to practice mindfulness during this stressful time.  

Remote Working - The Future of Work is Finally Here

For many years working remotely was an option available only to the few. Its many benefits obvious to companies and policy makers but often held back by fear of change and inadequate infrastructure. Now we are all remote workers and finding ways to overcome challenges that seemed insurmountable in the past. We at SIRO have always known the benefits of working remotely, it’s one of the reasons that we’re so enthusiastic about supporting regional digital hubs.  For those companies such as SIRO, who were already open to remote working, the transition has been easier. Regardless of the challenges, our staff survey shows that employees appreciate remote working options and believe that they bring benefits to themselves and the company; time with their families and communities and a focused environment to complete tasks that offices cannot provide. Post Covid, remote working will remain popular, but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, a flexible approach, such as that offered by SIRO can reap rewards for both company and employee.  

“The Fibre To The Home (FTTH) Council has published its annual EU Market Panorama today with encouraging news for Ireland. Ireland’s FTTH now covers 700,000 homes (more than one third of the housing stock) up from 400,000 last year and Ireland is cited in the report as having the second highest growth rate (70%) of homes passed in the EU 28. With 145,000 subscriptions Ireland now has almost 8% of households actually connected to FTTH doubling its rate of 3.8% last year. This has moved Ireland up 2 places from 20^th position in the EU 28 league table to 18^th” In this article Stephen O’Connor examines the report and latest Fibre trends. There are two reports issued annually that are of keen interest to people who follow the EU Digital Agenda. The first is the EU “Digital Economy and Society Index” (DESI) report published each June which tracks the tracks the evolution of EU member states in digital competitiveness. It covers Connectivity, Digital Skills, and usage by Citizens, Businesses and Public Sector. Encouragingly Ireland moved up one place overall from 8^th to 7^th in June 2019 which is a strong performance among the EU28. The second report is the annual FTTH (Fibre To The Home) Market Panorama which tracks the Homes Passed and Homes Connected to full fibre networks throughout Europe. The report includes the latest EU ranking of countries and is published by the FTTH Council at their annual conference which is supposed to be taking place this week in Berlin. Instead the Council published the panorama in a webinar today. The results were encouraging both for Europe and Ireland. Total EU homes passed is now 88 million (40% of premises) up from 74 million last year, with 38 million active subscriptions (up from 32 million last year). Ireland, with 700,000 homes now passed and 145,000 subscriptions (ComReg data Q3 2019) in Sept 2019, has just under 8% of households connected to FTTH up from 3.8% last year. Almost doubling FTTH subscriptions from 75,000 to 145,000 has moved Ireland up from 20^th position in the EU 28 league table to 18^th passing out Italy and Poland. [caption id="attachment_5325" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] European Ranking of FTTH September 2019[/caption] While Ireland still lags behind the Baltics and Scandanavians (as well as Spain & Portugal which have seen significant investment) it is worth noting that Ireland is still ahead of Germany, Austria and the UK, while Belgium and Greece have yet to join the league table. To join the league table you need to have a minimum of 1% of households subscribing to an FTTH service. Ireland first joined this group in September 2017 after SIRO reached 30,000 subscriptions and became the 23rd member of the EU 28 to join the table. The UK subsequently joined the table in 2019. The Fibre conversation has changed a lot in Ireland in recent years and the rate of market investment is at unprecedented levels. Ireland is cited in the report as having the second highest growth rate (70%) of homes passed in the EU 28. At the panorama measurement date (Sept 2019) Ireland had 145,000 household FTTH subscribers (up from 75,000 in 2018) moving Ireland up from 3.8% penetration to 7.9%. Summary SIRO has passed 320,000 FTTH premises in 50 urban locations in Ireland and its plans will be supplemented by other operators and also the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) which will support next generation access to 540,000 rural homes and businesses. In total, Ireland has c.700,000 homes passed with 100% fibre and clearly has ground to make up on our European peers both in network build and penetration (EU 28 average penetration is 17%), but being included in the panorama and moving up 2 places in the rankings is an important step to join the EU digital front runners. Network deployment and subscription growth across the EU will be driven by incumbents moving to “copper switch off”, increased home working, increased data usage, and clearer Fibre advertising standards. Based on this report there are real causes for optimism that this once in a lifetime transition from legacy copper to full fibre will happen in Ireland and the EU 28. The next stop is the rearranged FTTH Conference in Berlin in December 2020.

SIRO – Connectivity for When You Need Us Most.

Monday, April 13^th marks 1 month since the first COVID-19 restrictions were announced in Ireland. Our world has changed dramatically. As Ireland’s busiest towns and cities went into lockdown, hundreds of thousands of people have been working from home, educating children, staying in touch and keeping entertained on various online platforms. Up to 30% more people are reported to be using broadband since the beginning of the lockdown period (Irish Examiner) Broadband is designated as ‘essential services’, and connectivity is crucial in this unprecedented time. As part of our pledge to keep Ireland connected during COVID-19, we have continued to roll out the SIRO network across the country, and have introduced strict measures for our build and installation process. As of April 2020, SIRO fibre broadband is available in 320,000 homes and businesses all over Ireland, 61,000 of them already connected to SIRO. Our Installation team completed more than 2600 appointments in March – that’s another 2600 households and businesses that can benefit from life-changing 100% fibre broadband in this critical time. We have made it our priority to connect front-line workers and essential services workers to the network so that they can perform their duties in keeping Ireland running.

No Impact of Lockdown on Network Capacity

SIRO is Ireland’s first and remains the only 100% fibre-to-the-home network. Fibre-optic cables are brought to your home via the existing ESB infrastructure with no copper at any point in the network. This significantly improves speeds and reduces congestion, as pure fibre cables have much better bandwidth and are much less prone to congestion than copper wires. Since the restrictions were first implemented on Friday 13 March, we have seen no impact of the lockdown on the SIRO network. There has been a steady but stable increase in daily average data consumption across the network – 23% between 12-31 March. With people doing most of their activities online, it comes as no surprise that consumption patterns have changed since 13 March. The graphs below outlines the pattern of data demand before and during lockdown: the biggest increase can be seen during the morning hours well into the afternoon compared to the pre-lockdown period. Data consumption also varies by tows. The busiest towns on the SIRO network are Cork, Limerick and Blanchardstown, followed by Drogheda and Newbridge. In a nutshell, life has changed significantly for all of us over the past month, and as an organisation we have had to adjust given the ongoing developments of COVID-19. Despite all these changes, we can assure you that one thing remains constant: the essential connectivity SIRO provides will continue to stay strong and stay in place, so we can play our part in keeping the people of Ireland connected throughout this difficult time.