“Since the start of the pandemic, we have witnessed how technology enabled the rapid and successful shift to remote working.”
“As data becomes the driver of innovation and business transformation, technologies like AI and 5G are starting to become more critical to business success”
SIRO is acutely aware that human interaction and organisations are dynamic and ever changing, diffusing between several layers of interaction and influence, all of which affect perceptions, meaning, values, attitudes, norms and thus behaviour; and that one unsafe behaviour can significantly change an organisations’ record. Today, there is much talk within organisations and businesses about “culture.” Within occupational and environmental management, the importance of having a positive safety culture is much highlighted. Culture is the evolving result of the continuing negotiations about values between the members of that organisation and with its environment. It includes norms, ideas and factors which prompt behaviour and attitudes towards the organisation. Is culture the single determinant of all aspects of safety and the organisation of safety practices? Unfortunately, no. It is just one, but important, part of a wider paradigm of factors required to establish a successful management system. ISO standards, in particular ISO 45001 & ISO 14001, refer to this paradigm of factors as an organisation’s “context”. To develop successful systems, there is no singular, defining handbook, each organisation must determine their own, suited to their own context.“SIRO is an Industry Leader on Environmental Health and Safety.”
“We considered the complexity of utilising existing electricity infrastructure to construct & operate a 100% fibre-to-the-building broadband network, and successfully created management systems specific to SIRO”.
“We are delighted to announce our connectivity partnership with SIRO and Vodafone today. Access to reliable fibre broadband that can meet the data demands of our member companies today and into the future is essential. It’s hugely important to the PorterShed and its long-term sustainability. The support of SIRO and Vodafone along with Enterprise Ireland ensure the PorterShed can continue to deliver and improve its service offering”Managing Director of Vodafone Ireland Business Sinead Bryan commented:
“The PorterShed has done amazing work in contributing to Galway’s regional economy by providing a space where SMEs can grow and develop. When the Gigabit Hub Initiative was first established, its goal was to support job creation and revitalise local economies by providing best in class fibre connectivity. The pandemic has highlighted that connectivity is key to our economic recovery, so it’s another way for us to support that objective. Fundamentally, the acceleration of remote working and adoption of hybrid working models presents real opportunities for businesses to strategically drive long term value in key areas such as flexibility, talent, sustainability, and cost using the digital hubs network."SIRO Corporate Affairs Director, Amanda Glancy said:
“The Gigabit Hub Initiative is a project that we at SIRO are extremely proud to roll-out in partnership with Vodafone. Since our launch, SIRO’s core ambition has been to bring fibre broadband to cities and towns across Ireland and to act as a catalyst for regional growth and balanced development. The PorterShed has achieved much in this regard in just a few short years. We are hugely supportive of the next phase of the PorterShed’s growth and excited about contributing to its long-term success with our fibre broadband service.”SIRO and Vodafone first established the Gigabit Hub Initiative in 2017, following the success of the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen, Co. Cork. There are now 17 Gigabit Hubs across Ireland supporting start-up enterprise, facilitating remote working and bringing added value to the towns they are located in.
The gold standard, what does it mean? It’s a term thrown about by many that can be applied to virtually anything: broadband, accommodation, even a cup of coffee.
For myself, as CTO of SIRO, it means achieving and maintaining superior quality of customer service that inspires others to follow suit. Irish people have always valued quality customer service that’s delivered with care. Since the pandemic, there has been a notable shift in customers valuing trust and mutual understanding from their service providers. A recent survey from The CX Company noted that companies need to show “massive commitment, collaboration, energy and passion” to satisfy the emotional drivers that add to the customer experience. As a CTO of SIRO, with years’ experience of service delivery in telecommunications, one thing each internet service provider (ISP) needs to excel is: Agility.
The ability to react to a changing environment is critical. As is the ability to identify and resolve an issue in a timely manner. SIRO is a wholesale open access network with 19 retailers, and during the pandemic, we were deemed as an essential “critical” service, which meant two things: the people of Ireland needed us, and the pressure was on. Our SSPs had to adapt to ever changing restrictions and guidelines all while ensuring that our customers could carry on working during a global pandemic. So how does an open access wholesaler with 19 retailers ensure that our customers experience in “the last mile” is positive?
“We were deemed as an essential “critical” service, which meant two things: the people of Ireland needed us, and the pressure was on”
For starters, one of the key roles we have as a wholesaler, is supporting our retailers. Our retailers set the performance, as ultimately, they provide the service. So, our role is ensuring our retailers have the appropriate tools to manage their “service” end. Our installers, for example, can provide a heatmap to measure the performance of our connectivity in a home and determine which is the best place for our customers to place their modem. We provide the connection and the CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) and deploy engineers to complete the last steps in the connection. This ensures that our customers receive the highest standards of care and service. Our ultimate goal is to meet our customer expectations, as we are passionate that a SIRO connection is the last you’ll truly need.
While our retailers primarily offer residential services, the same level of care and innovation is provided for our enterprise connections too.
Some of our retailers have begun looking at Fibre to the Room, expanding on the concept of FTTH. Vodafone, for example, provide Wifi enhancement tools for homes that may have difficulty connecting in varying parts of the home. This is known as their “Super-Wifi” product which is having huge success. On average, an Irish home contains 15-20 devices that are Wi-Fi-enabled or connected to the internet, and we foresee that growing each year. As devices develop and demand grows, we as an ISP must continue to innovate, adapt and improve our services to accommodate.
Wifi-Six or “11ax” is a Wi-Fi enhancement tool that will enable better utilisation of the bandwidth provided, which we foresee as a tool that can enhance the in-home broadband experience for our customers and reduce the number of calls to centres.
As a wholesaler, SIRO are happy to support our retailers in ensuring our customers connection remains optimal. We need to ensure that we are providing our retailers with the level of support that’s required to ensure each customer receives the gold standard of service, at each step in their connection.
When SIRO first began its journey, we were a small wholesaler with very few retail partners. We had a vision of bridging the digital divide between Dublin and regional Ireland with pure fibre connectivity. Ireland had fewer than 11,000 fibre connections, and the incumbent Eir had the lion’s share of the broadband market with xDSL connectivity.
Now, we’ve achieved “Five 9s” availability and enabled over 400,000 homes with 100% fibre connectivity, all while balancing the delicate relationship between wholesaler and service provider.
Search Your Eircode today to connect to SIRO 100% Fibre Broadband. 
Enet, Ireland’s largest open-access network operator, has today announced an agreement worth up to €5 million with Fastcom. Through this new partnership, enet is delivering Fastcom access to SIRO’s fibre infrastructure meaning they can facilitate high-speed broadband to 350,000 potential premises in regional towns across Ireland.
The agreement will deliver speeds of up to 1Gbps and will ensure further competition in the broadband market by giving Fastcom access to additional locations equipped with gigabit technology. Through this, enet will enable Fastcom to provide the fastest possible broadband speeds to more communities across Ireland.
Cormac Ryan, Commercial Director of enet, said: “We are delighted to have agreed this partnership with Fastcom which provides them with access to the SIRO network. This will offer them the opportunity to deliver high-speed broadband to an increasing number of regional locations. We are delighted to be working alongside Fastcom to ensure our investments in cutting-edge technology benefit more people across the country.”
Lorraine Gibbons, Managing Director of Fastcom, said: “We are delighted to announce this deal and to continue our ongoing relationship with enet. This enables us to expand our product portfolio with access to the nationwide SIRO network and, as an independent broadband provider, it means we can offer the best possible solution for any customer in any location. Demand for gigabit broadband is increasing all the time and now, with the availability of SIRO services, we can offer this to our ever-growing business and residential customer base throughout the country.”
Ronan Whelan, Chief Commercial Officer of SIRO, added: “Since our foundation, SIRO’s objective has been to expand access across Ireland to reliable and resilient fibre broadband. Today’s announcement furthers that ambition and brings Gigabit connectivity to the heart of even more Irish homes and businesses - allowing them to do life different.”
Last week, SIRO announced the next stage of our fibre network expansion – a €620 million investment that will almost double our existing network footprint, reaching 770,000 homes and businesses and up to 2.1 million people across Ireland over the next four years. Combined with our existing investment as part of the first phase of our broadband network roll-out, it takes our total investment in building a new 100% fibre network to almost one billion euro overall.
People now need, want and expect seamless connectivity to allow them to do what matters most in their lives in a convenient and easy way. So, whether its’s allowing them to live where they want, and increasingly many are choosing to do so away from our congested cities or working flexible hours which matches their lifestyles and family needs or both staying connected and spending more time with loved ones; the fact is that none of this is possible without high quality broadband. It is now the cornerstone which is unlocking the means to allow people to live in a different and more sustainable way. Once motorway were the key arteries to bridging people to and from where they lived and worked, now broadband networks are increasingly fulfilling this role. And therein lies the crux of the problem Ireland still faces, and to which SIRO last week committed to contribute to fixing in a meaningful way - large parts of Ireland still cannot access high quality broadband. It’s why we have committed to increase our existing network reach from 410,000 premises to 770,000 premises over the next four years. This also means we will increase the number of towns across Ireland from 64 currently to 154, an additional 90 towns, who can access the SIRO network.
More and more people now are aware that fibre broadband offers a gold standard service, which, most of all, they can depend on. Given, that it is future proofed to speeds of up to 25 Gigabits, it is also likely the last connection they will ever need. Last week with COP26, global leaders are focused on climate change, reducing emissions and finding ways for humanity to live more sustainably but equally juggling how the world adapts and recovers from the pandemic, fibre broadband can play a key role here too. Examples include increased working from home or in hubs closer to where we will live, taking cars off our roads thereby reducing emissions or underpinning smart technologies in our towns and cities delivering benefits such as greater energy efficiency or using natural resources better.
It is apparent that copper switch off is happening all over the world and in Ireland. Fibre itself when compared to older outdated copper or cable broadband technologies is also much more environmentally friendly with less emissions and lower energy consumption. As SIRO now sets off on the next phase of our development and the work to bring our network to tens of thousands of more homes and businesses across Ireland begins, we are conscious that there is still much work to be done to make a full fibre Ireland a reality for all. Ireland is currently at a halfway point in our fibre broadband journey, just over 50% of homes and businesses can access a fibre network, while approximately 13% are connected to one. There remains much work to be done. Yet if we take a view that companies like SIRO, who have already rolled out to over 410,000 premises now have an intent to reach the remaining half of the population in an accelerated and faster timespan, our decision-makers must now also increasingly factor the benefits and opportunities which arise from a fully connected Ireland.
Ireland’s fibre networks will be a strategic asset for decades to come, delivering huge social and economic benefits for decades to come. We can’t waste the opportunities they unlock. Our policymakers must now really consider the wide range of areas which fibre broadband can influence such as how and where we live, how public services are delivered, the skills and expertise required by our workforce in a digital age and above all how we can leverage technology to allow our country to prosper but in a way which does not harm our planet.
Christian Kettel Thomsen, European Investment Bank Vice President added: "Accelerating access to broadband communications is crucial to harness the environmental, economic and social benefits of digitalisation. The European Investment Bank is pleased to provide EUR 170 million backing for expansion of SIRO as part of our support for digital investment. This cooperation between Irish and international partners will enable 2.1 million people across Ireland to access high-speed internet in the years ahead”
Vodafone Ireland CEO Anne O’Leary noted: “We are proud today that SIRO, our joint venture with ESB, has announced plans for a second phase, bringing fibre broadband to even more people, businesses and communities across Ireland. It has never been more important to advance critical digital infrastructure that supports business transformation and connected communities to embed longer-term societal resilience. COVID-19 has given us an opportunity to re-imagine what is possible and to accelerate digital transformation for citizens, communities, business and future proof our economy. The last 18 months have proven how crucial connectivity is to this.
“It will enable the next generation of businesses in Ireland to remain competitive globally and to capitalise on new opportunities to grow and scale from wherever they are based. It will allow rural communities to thrive and become more sustainable by facilitating remote working from home, or through hybrid models, it will support new business growth and development as well as connected education and healthcare. This announcement today is not just a commitment to delivering high-speed connectivity, it a commitment to our economy and society - and to future generations”.
ESB CEO Paddy Hayes stated: “It’s really positive that this additional investment in SIRO fibre broadband will allow even more customers, communities and businesses to benefit from high speed connections; supporting smart working, local economies, jobs and sustainable living in 154 towns around Ireland.”
The expansion will also see the SIRO and Vodafone’s Gigabit Hub initiative bolstered. The initiative currently provides a 1 Gigabit broadband connection to 16 remote working and enterprise centres across Ireland, supporting local entrepreneurs and job creation. Full details of the expanded Gigabit Hub initiative will be announced in the coming weeks.
Since our launch in 2015, we have rolled out Ireland’s first 100% fibre-optic broadband network, making Gigabit broadband available to over 400,000 homes and businesses across the country. Our Fibre-to-the-Building technology is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally. 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. As a wholesale open-access broadband operator, services powered by SIRO are available to homes and businesses through 19 retailers who resell SIRO broadband to residential and business customers.
Early this month, Vodafone announced a new digital skills training programme for older people in Ireland, supported by Alone and Active Retirement Ireland. The programme aims to reach 230,000 older people over the next five years. The initiative is hugely welcome. It can make a significant contribution in bridging the gap between digital haves and have-nots. The digitisation of all facets of how we live often leaves those without technological literacy feeling disenfranchised.
Many of us have experienced becoming the tech support for our parents or elderly relatives during COVID-19, connecting Zoom calls to relatives abroad, booking the COVID-19 vaccine online or setting up online supermarket home deliveries. Being connected was a lifeline for many cocooning during the pandemic. Yet many had to wait for their children or friends to get set up on tablets or iPads. Moreover, there were those who didn’t have anyone they could call and were quite literally left to their own devices. Independence is something everyone values, so Vodafone’s initiative respects this by providing those with poor digital skills with the autonomy to learn digital skills for themselves.
Research from the Department of Higher and Further Education found 50% of Irish adults lack basic digital skills. This could have grave consequences for our economy in the future. Prior to Covid-19, the SME sector accounted for over 60% of Ireland's workforce, and this crucial part of the Irish economy usually has the poorest digital ability. This sector was also the one most impacted by the pandemic and has the furthest distance to travel to economically recover from it.
It’s not a coincidence that the most digitally literate and technologically advanced countries in the world, such as Japan, consistently score highest in global rankings of most entrepreneurial countries. Therefore, a solid grasp of digital expertise amongst the Irish population at large, and by our SMEs, is essential. The next generations, who come behind the business owners of today, despite the tag of being digital natives, research has shown also face challenges.
This week, SIRO announced that we’re launching Ireland’s first 2Gb consumer broadband service. It’s initially available in Kilkenny from 19 October, but watch this space for further rollout announcements. When I started working on our 2Gb project last year, I got the same reaction from most people I talked to: “Why? After all, SIRO already offers a gigabit service – isn’t 1Gb plenty for just about every home?” It’s a reasonable question, and I gave the same two answers every time.
First: build it and they will come. Ever since I started working on internet services, over twenty-five years ago, we’ve consistently seen that users will find a way to use any size of connection you can provide. One of my first upgrades was putting new software on dialup modems so that they could run at 33kbps – or 0.002% the speed of our new 2Gb service. Even then, people were sceptical – what could users want to do that would need that much bandwidth? Would they pay a premium for it?
More recently, when SIRO started promoting our 1Gb service in 2018, we got the same question – why would anyone possibly need a 1Gb service at home? Three years later, it’s our most popular service, widely used by homes and businesses around the country as the gold standard of broadband connections.
My second answer was that providing extra bandwidth allows our partner retail telcos to be innovative in the services they provide. For example, they might dedicate 500Mb to your gaming console; 500Mb to your remote working devices, to ensure lag-free video conferencing; and 1Gb to the general house Wi-Fi. We already see this happening in other countries where 2Gb services have been around for longer, and we’re looking forward to watching Irish broadband providers use SIRO connection to come up with innovative ways to make the most of the extra bandwidth we can now provide.
As more people move to working from home, businesses increasingly depend on high-quality fibre connections for video calls, remote access, and backing up increasing volumes of data. We saw this in action when we upgraded Cartoon Saloon to our symmetric fibre services during lockdown last year, so that they could continue to work on their Academy Award-nominated film Wolfwalkers while their staff remained safely remote. Getting more businesses online with more reliable fibre connections is key to helping Irish companies evolve and compete globally for both business and talent.