COVID-19 Lockdown – One-Month Look Back

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.

The speed of your broadband connection largely depends 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) which still uses copper at some points in the network, and Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) with 100% fibre-optic cables. But which is best? And which is a dying technology?

FTTC versus FTTH

Currently the most used technology in Ireland, Fibre-to-the-Cabinet generally delivers speeds of up to 100 Megabits per second (Mbps). The downside is the last few feet between the telephone exchange cabinet on the street and the router in your house. All that fibre-optic, light-speed goodness is lost on the last stretch of copper wire used to connect your house to the exchange. Copper is good for old school landline calls, not so good for superfast broadband signals. It literally slows the signal right down. While 100 Mbps is the maximum speed, the speed you get could be much lower depending on the distance between your home and the cabinet. SIRO is a Fibre-to-the-Home connection. This means you never lose the speed of fibre-optics – an incredible 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). We build this network along the existing ESB lines - the fibre cables run directly to your router inside your house with no loss of signal.

Reliability

Fibre-optic cables are not affected by environmental factors than can weaken signals over copper cables. For example, the signal on a copper wire drops massively over just two kilometres, whereas fibre-optic cables over the same distance is extremely reliable. And, unlike copper, fibre-optic cables are extremely resilient to heat, humidity and extreme weather conditions, making this the last broadband connection you’ll ever need.

Security

Fibre-optic cables don’t carry electricity, so they don’t radiate signals that can be tapped. Copper uses electricity and therefore is open to be tapped, which can cause the entire system to fail. A broken or damaged fibre-optic cable can be identified very quickly. A copper cable can short completely or even go on fire if it is damaged, old or worn. Source: Coppersaurus It is important to recognize the distinction between FTTC and FTTH – between a copper-based and a full fibre connection. Very often, this line is blurred due to confusing advertising messages – currently there is little differentiation between part-fibre and full-fibre networks in broadband marketing. The good news is that the Advertising Standard Authority of Ireland (ASAI) has released specific guidelines requiring broadband providers to specify if their product is 100% Fibre, Part Fibre or Full Copper. This gives the end consumers the information, clarity and transparency they so require to make a fully-informed broadband decision.

SIRO 100% Fibre - The Most Powerful Broadband in Ireland

FTTH, the technology powering SIRO broadband, has been widely recognised as the only future proofed solution and the gold standard of broadband technology. But what exactly does it mean for the end consumers? As discussed, with an FTTC connection, the longer the copper cable used, the more bandwidth you lose. With SIRO, there is no discernable loss over the distance from the cabinet to the router in your home. This opens up unlimited possibilities for home entertainment and remote working. For the avid gamers, SIRO will transform the entire gaming experience, with extremely low latency and jitter level, little to no packet loss and lightning fast download speeds of 1 Gbps. For the movies enthusiasts, SIRO lets you download a 25GB HD movie in 3 minutes, compared to 30 minutes on a FTTC 100 Mbps connection (FTTH Council Europe). For the remote workers, imagine the ability to send and receive emails instantly, download large files in seconds, or video-call without lagging or buffering. For small and medium businesses all over Ireland, SIRO best-in-class 100% fibre connectivity offers industry-leading speed and reliability – which enables you to worry less about whether you’ll be able to send that email to your client or get your contactless payment to work, and more on the actual strategic running of your business. Find out more about SIRO for Business.

Copper – the Dying Technology

There are many factors pointing towards the inevitable demise of copper technology. Consumers have increasingly realised the benefits of fibre: more Irish consumers than ever are switching to FTTH – the annual growth rate of FTTH is 115% -the fastest growth among all broadband subscription types, while copper connections have declined by 17.3% (Comreg quarterly data, Q1 2019). Following the regulation by the ASAI, we can expect an even stronger shift going into 2020 and beyond, as consumers will be able to tell whether it is fibre or copper they’re buying. All over Europe, the battle against copper, and the call for a ‘copper switch-off’ is intensifying. In fact, a full copper switch-off has been found to be a win-win with numerous benefits for both consumers and operators. Soon, fibre-optics will completely replace copper cables in both long and short-haul networking – and copper will be truly a thing of the past. So why not future proof your homes or business today and check if your address is connectable to SIRO?

Today is Gimme Fibre Day, a day that celebrates Nobel Prize winner Sir Charles Kuen Kao, whose work on transmitting light through fibres revolutionised communications. This day, Kao’s birthday, is a day to acknowledge both his achievements and the benefits his work on optical fibre bring to the world. More than 95% of global digital data is carried by fibre optic cables and this technology touches every aspect of our lives, from facilitating communication with loved ones to enabling smart homes, smart cities and smart working. Many of today’s most complex problems necessitate the contribution of equally complex ICT solutions, which in turn depend on Very High Capacity Networks (VHCN) to transfer data at scale and at speed. One such problem is climate change. The challenge of reducing harmful emissions and adapting to an uncertain future climate will require enormous change, much of it technical, in every sector of the economy. A recent paper published by UK wholesale fibre network operator City Fibre pointed to the need for VHCNs to underpin ICT carbon reduction solutions across sectors such as energy, eHealth, transport, smart buildings and cloud computing. Without a high-speed, high-quality with low latency and resilient broadband network, these solutions will be difficult to adopt widely. At SIRO, we see building a future-proofed 100% fibre optic network as an important enabler for the transition to a sustainable economy. Our network currently reaches 275,000 homes and businesses across regional Ireland, with 50,000 customers and growing. FTTH networks themselves are more energy efficient than other access networks and research has shown that per gigabit, widespread adoption of FTTH infrastructure could be responsible for 88% fewer emissions in European countries than the alternatives. Public concern over climate change is growing. According to the Eurobarometer (2019), 75% of Irish people see it as a ‘very serious’ problem, up from 68% in 2017. While they see Government (48%), the EU (45%), business (39%) and themselves (43%) as being relatively equally responsible for tackling climate change, 62% of Irish respondents say they have personally taken action “to fight climate change over the past six months”. Proposals relating to specific Government actions, e.g. financial supports for clean energy transition and national renewable energy targets are heavily supported by Irish respondents (93% and 95% respectively). These results show that on the whole, Irish people are willing to make personal changes in behaviour to tackle climate change but they also see a need for these changes to be supported by Government action. However, business and industry also bear a huge responsibility, not only to decrease their own carbon footprint, but to empower the public, including their employees, to take their own actions on climate change.  

FTTH – empowering people to make change

Building a future-proofed 100% fibre-optic broadband network will help Irish people to make the changes they want to make in their own lives and work to help fight climate change. For the individual, there is potential to reduce transport emissions, in particular through facilitating remote working. A quantitative analysis using a lifecycle approach conducted by PwC for the FTTH Council North America found that within 6 years of its deployment, a typical FTTH network in the US will have a positive impact on the environment mainly due to the benefits of remote working.[1] As a company we believe that we should also empower our employees to make similar changes, and facilitate remote working where possible. At SIRO we have a mixture of office-based and field-based staff and while the options to work remotely are dependent on business needs, we aim to allow all those who desire it and whose role allows it, to work from home or a remote office/site. We are building our fibre network in towns in regional Ireland, so while our head office is in Carrickmines Dublin, many of our employees are based in towns across the country from Letterkenny to Tralee, to Galway and Dundalk. To get an idea of the prevalence and the appetite for remote working in SIRO and the carbon savings we could make by spending one day a week working from home, we recently surveyed the staff. We found that that SIRO staff respondents travel an average of 58km daily to their place of work. Those who travel by car travel an average of 62km daily to their place of work.[2] In keeping with the profile of the company, many SIRO employees live outside of Dublin, commuting to the office in Carrickmines from towns and cities such as Roscommon and Cork. Given the location of the office and the distribution of our build sites, it is unsurprising how far the average SIRO employee travels to get to work. Also reflecting our head office location and build sites, 87% of SIRO staff travel to work by private car or company van, with 8% taking public transport and 3% travelling by car share, 2% use other modes such as walking or motorcycle. The company already incentivises use of public transport through the Government Taxsaver scheme, other options to decrease emissions from travel to work are car sharing and remote working. When asked whether they would be open to car sharing, only 30% of respondents indicated they were and only 3% of people currently car share regularly. Remote working, on the other hand, is more popular, 63% of respondents reported working from home/remotely during the week. Of those that do not work remotely/from home [3], 60% of them said that they would like to. Aside from the other benefits of working from home, (e.g. better work-life balance), the emissions reductions can be significant. The Government’s Climate Action Plan estimates that every new remote worker will yield a net energy saving of 10kWh per day. In the UK, it has been estimated that the nationwide availability of faster broadband could save 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions per annum due to remote working and a reduction in work travel alone.[4]  

The Benefits of Remote Working on CO₂ Emissions

From our survey, we calculated that on average a SIRO employee working from home one day a week for a year would save 724 kg CO₂, or 0.72 tonnes CO₂ emissions each, or approximately 5% of an Irish person’s emissions per annum (13.3 tonnes per capita 2017) Not everyone who wishes to work remotely wishes to work from home. An option many found attractive was working from a digital/co-working hub. If it was available, 26% would work from a hub occasionally and 38% would work from a hub frequently/very frequently. Through a partnership with Vodafone, SIRO sponsors 15 Gigabit hubs in regional towns around the country, giving them access to two year’s free 1 Gigabit connection. Recent research by Vodafone found that Gigabit hubs make a substantial economic contribution to the towns they are based in and it estimated that 5,200 jobs could be supported.[12] That’s 5,200 people who can avoid a lengthy commute. By giving people who live in regional towns the option to work in a local Gigabit hub rather than commute to the nearest city most likely by car, they are also empowering people to reduce their carbon emissions. Dr Kao would no doubt be pleased with the significant efforts going on across Europe to “Switch Off” Copper networks and replace them with Very High Capacity (VHCN) Fibre networks, both in the backhaul trunk networks and the local last mile access networks. Greater adoption of this infrastructure he pioneered has the dual benefit of driving the EU Digital Agenda and competitiveness and also contributing to the decarbonising of industry and transportation. Happy birthday Sir Charles from SIRO.     [1] PwC (2008), ‘Developing a Generic Approach for FTTH Solutions using Life Cycle Analysis Methodology to Determine Environmental Benefits of FTTH Deployments in the USA’. [2] Response rate of 58% [3] 37% do not currently work from home/remotely [4] SQW (2013), UK Broadband Impact Study.  Found in WIK Consult (2018), The Benefits of Ultrafast Broadband

Minister Seán Kyne, Government Chief Whip and Minister of State for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands has launched a new SIRO rollout to provide Galway city with access to the most powerful broadband service in Ireland. The first Galway homes which were connected to the network in Oranmore last week. The Galway rollout will see services powered by SIRO made available to approximately 30,000 premises across Galway city and the surrounding area.  SIRO will invest €20 million in the construction of its Gigabit broadband network, representing what will be the largest single investment that the wholesale broadband operator will make in 2019. The network build will commence from SIRO points of Interconnect in Galway, Oranmore and Moneenageisha to cover 30 clusters in the Galway area bringing access to SIRO’s Fibre-to-the-Building (FTTB) technology, which is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally and is 100% fibre-optic, with no copper at any point to slow it down.  

Fibre-Optic Cables Straight to the Home

Using the existing ESB network, SIRO builds dedicated fibre-optic cables all the way to the home or business premises, delivering speeds of 1 Gigabit per second or 15 times faster than the average broadband speeds in Ireland.  For context, downloading a high definition (HD) film of 4 GB (Gigabytes) with a 10 Mbps connection takes an hour - with SIRO it takes 30 seconds. Given the changes in how businesses and consumers access and use data and content, FTTB is now the fastest growing segment of the Irish broadband market with connections more than doubling since the start of 2018 from 50,000 to 108,000. FTTB is a key enabler of smart cities, the internet of things (IoT) and homeworking. The TLI Group, which has already delivered Carrigaline, Limerick, Tralee, and Killarney and is currently working in another 6 towns across Cork and Tipperary, has been appointed build delivery partner for the Galway roll out. Welcoming the announcement, Minister Seán Kyne said the investment in Galway by ESB and Vodafone through SIRO is a direct result of the Government’s policies on broadband which have included enabling the use of the ESB network for telecommunications. Gigabit connectivity will have a transformative effect on Galway as Fibre-to-the-Building is recognised as the gold standard for broadband internationally. As a result, this will give Galway businesses a head start against their peers both at home and internationally, as well as giving homes access to the latest digital services.” John Keaney, CEO of SIRO, added: “Our Gigabit connectivity will complement Galway’s rich technology heritage and put it on a par with international cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo in terms of broadband quality. SIRO is proud to help power a digital transformation in the city benefiting residents and businesses alike by introducing a new fibre era and switching off the old legacy copper network.”  

High-Speed Broadband is Attracting Investors to Galway

Speaking at the launch Mark Gantly, Senior R&D Director HP Enterprise, President of the American Chamber of Commerce, also said: “The availability of high speed internet connections are increasingly demanded by Foreign Direct Investors (FDI) looking to locate in regional Ireland. SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic broadband will future proof Galway City’s broadband requirements for generations.” Speaking at the launch, Galway Chamber President Dave Hickey added: “Given the strong growth of sectors such as financial services, medtech, ICT, and cyber security in Galway, it is absolutely essential that business is supported by the best quality connectivity. We have low latency transatlantic connection and now we have the local connectivity to match. It builds further resilience for an economy increasingly driven by data.” Mayor of Galway City Cllr. Mike Cubbard added: “Galway city is well placed to leverage this with new office space due to come on-stream over the next year, rental prices half the price of equivalent space in Dublin on average; a lower cost of living; and a talented workforce with 53% of the city’s population under 35 years of age.” 10 retailers now offer services powered by SIRO’s Gigabit broadband network to homes and businesses in 45 towns across the country. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland.  SIRO has formed partnerships with 10 operators – Vodafone, Digiweb, Sky, BT, Carnsore Broadband, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, eNet, Airwire and WestNet – with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the wholesale broadband market.

Minister for Education & Skills Joe McHugh TD has announced a new €14 million investment by SIRO in the rollout of its Fibre-to-the-Building (FTTB) broadband network to six new towns in Donegal - Buncrana, Donegal Town, Ballybofey, Stranorlar, Ballyshannon and Bundoran. This will see over 14,000 homes and premises offered access to Ireland’s fastest broadband network.

Construction Begins in Buncrana

SIRO has already commenced construction, with 1,600 homes and businesses in Buncrana already able to avail of Gigabit connectivity, and preparatory works also already underway in the five other towns. All of the premises will have a 100% fibre-optic connection available, giving them access to the same level of world class broadband in cities like Hong Kong or Tokyo. Stephen O'Connor SIRO's Director of Corporate Affairs, speaks to Highland Radio. The announcement was made by Minister McHugh at an event at Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana, held in partnership with Donegal County Council, which also saw KN Networks revealed as SIRO’s construction partner for the project. It brings SIRO’s total investment in Co Donegal to €25 million, having already made services powered by the wholesale broadband operator available to 11,000 premises in Letterkenny. There has been a high level of demand already in Letterkenny, with a penetration rate of more than 25% with public interest in services powered by SIRO in Buncrana also very encouraging at this early stage. SIRO has also committed to connect Donegal County Council’s planned Digital Hub in Buncrana as part of Vodafone and SIRO’s national Gigabit Hub Initiative, which offers a 1 Gigabit (1,000 Mbps or Megabits per second) broadband connection to qualifying business hubs in regional towns.  

SIRO rollout expanding from regional towns

SIRO’s rollout originally focused on 50 regional towns, each with over 4,000 premises, across the country. The addition of these six smaller towns to SIRO’s rollout is a pilot for a potential future second phase, which could see the rollout of SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic network expanded further. Commenting about the Donegal rollout, Minister for Education & Skills Joe McHugh TD said: “The Government has been actively encouraging the private sector to invest in delivering high speed broadband to regions across Ireland and today’s announcement is an example of that strategy paying off for Donegal. The investment by SIRO will see the construction in six towns of a Fibre-to-the-Building broadband network, which is recognised as the gold standard for broadband internationally, and is to be applauded. Residents and businesses in Buncrana, Donegal, Ballybofey, Stranorlar, Ballyshannon and Bundoran will have access to the level of connectivity that is available in Tokyo and Hong Kong, so these towns will stand at the top of Ireland’s broadband league.” Cllr Seamus O'Domhnaill, Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, said: “Broadband is as vital for day-to-day life as electricity and is an absolute necessity for social and economic development in Donegal. Following the successful launch of services powered by SIRO in Letterkenny, the Council has worked very closely with the company to encourage them to invest further and expand their rollout to additional towns, as well as committing to powering the Inishowen Innovation Hub as part of the Gigabit Hubs initiative.  This is a great day for Donegal and we’re very proud to see the Council’s efforts paying off to deliver this milestone.” Stephen O’Connor, SIRO’s Director of Corporate Affairs added: “SIRO has formed a close partnership with Donegal County Council, which has been critical to adding these extra six towns to our network following our original successful launch in Letterkenny. Construction is well underway, with services already live in Buncrana. Simply put, this will have a transformational effect as all 25,000 homes and businesses will have access to Gigabit broadband, which is the international gold standard for broadband connectivity.”  

SIRO is Expanding the Gigabit Hub Initiative

As part of its expanded rollout in Donegal, SIRO has put out a call to business centres in the six towns to register their interest in participating in the Gigabit Hub Initiative, which is run in partnership with Vodafone. The initiative aims to spark a digital transformation by providing Gigabit connectivity to qualifying hubs free of charge for two years. The recipients will receive a 1 Gigabit broadband connection from Vodafone which is powered by SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic network. The aim of the initiative is to replicate the success of the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen which is on course to help create 500 jobs in the West Cork region over the next five years.  

Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal Damien English TD has announced details of a €20 million investment programme in Meath by SIRO, the wholesale broadband operator building Ireland’s only 100% fibre-optic broadband network.  Encouraged by the success of its Navan rollout, where services are already live, SIRO now announces eight new towns for Meath. SIRO will connect Ashbourne, Dunshaughlin, Ratoath, Trim, Dunboyne, Mornington, Laytown and Bettystown to its Fibre-to-the-Building network. As a result, services powered by SIRO will be available to 21,000 homes and business in the county. Commenting about the addition of eight Meath towns to SIRO’s rollout, Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal Damien English TD said: “I have been actively advocating in Government for plans to help accelerate the rollout of high speed broadband across the country, so it is brilliant to see eight new towns in Meath get access to what is regarded as the international gold standard for broadband. Towns like Trim will now be on a par with cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong for broadband connectivity, so the possibilities are endless in terms of residents benefiting from the latest online services and businesses gaining a competitive edge.” Jackie Maguire, Chief Executive of Meath County Council, added: “One of the key aims of Meath County Council’s digital strategy is to help boost the economic and social development of the county through improved digital capabilities. The wider rollout of SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic broadband network, which will now reach nine towns in the county, illustrates how we are delivering on that promise. As a result, we will be able to attract further investment to the county, make remote working a more attractive option for people commuting to work and make innovative services like video consultations with GPs a real possibility.” John McManus, SIRO Build Director, concluded: “We’re delighted to broaden the scope of our rollout, with eight Meath towns added to our plans. SIRO is building Ireland’s only 100 per cent fibre-optic network, which means that anyone in Meath using our services are guaranteed the best broadband experience in the country as there is nothing faster than the speed of light. Considering the data demands in the future due to cloud technology and online streaming services, our Fibre-to-the-Building network means that we are future-proofing these nine towns broadband needs for decades ahead.”  

Expansion of Gigabit Hubs in Meath

As part of its expanded rollout in Meath, SIRO has put out a call to business centres in the eight towns to register their interest in participating in the Gigabit Hub Initiative, which is run in partnership with Vodafone. The initiative aims to spark a digital transformation by providing Gigabit connectivity to qualifying hubs free of charge for two years.  Recipients receive a 1 Gigabit broadband connection from Vodafone which is powered by SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic network. There are currently ten participating Gigabit Hubs nationwide. The aim of the initiative is to replicate the success of the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen which is on course to help create 500 jobs in the West Cork region over the next five years.

SIRO has welcomed Sky Ireland to its family of retail partners offering its Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband, with services now available to order in over 20 towns across the country. As the fastest growing broadband provider in the country, the decision to offer services powered by SIRO supports Sky’s roadmap for increased on-demand content services, which require high broadband bandwidth requirements.  

SIRO Broadband

SIRO, the open-access wholesale broadband provider delivering Ireland’s first 100% fibre-optic broadband network to 50 towns nationwide, has passed over 200,000 premises in its rollout to date. SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic technology is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally and is the fastest growing segment of the Irish broadband market with FTTH connections nearly doubling since the start of 2018 (Source: ComReg Q3 data) Using the existing ESB network, SIRO builds dedicated fibre-optic cables all the way to the home or business. This technology, known as “Fibre-to-the-Home” delivers internet connection speeds of 1 Gigabit per second. SIRO’s Gigabit connectivity is 26 times faster than the average broadband speeds in Ireland. (Source : Ookla Speed Test , Ireland August 2018)  

Sky Ireland Welcomed by SIRO

Welcoming Sky Ireland, SIRO CEO John Keaney said: “We are extremely proud of our partnership with Sky which is another milestone in SIRO’s mission to enable Ireland’s Gigabit Society. The seal of approval by SKY, Europe’s largest entertainment company, is testament to the quality of our network . They recognise how Fibre-to-the-Home broadband is transforming how people access and experience content. Sky customers, who can begin placing orders from today, are guaranteed the best broadband in Ireland.” SIRO is now live in 30 towns across the country, with 10 retailers offering connections to over 200,000 homes and businesses. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland.  SIRO has formed partnerships with 10 operators – SKY Ireland, Vodafone, Digiweb, BT, Carnsore Broadband, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, eNet, Airwire and WestNet – with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the broadband market.

• Nenagh and Roscrea to be connected to SIRO’s 100% Fibre Optic Gigabit Broadband Network
• Overall SIRO network to reach 16,000 homes and businesses in County Tipperary.

Thursday 20^th September 2018 – SIRO, the wholesale broadband operator building Ireland’s 100% fibre-optic broadband network, announced today that it is adding two more towns to its network in Tipperary. At a meeting of Tipperary County Council (Nenagh Municipal District) SIRO outlined its plans to roll out its 1 Gigabit (1,000Mbps) broadband network in Nenagh and Roscrea. The two towns join Clonmel, where construction of the network began early in the summer. SIRO’s Gigabit connectivity will allow residents and businesses to avail of broadband that is three times faster than the best service available in Dublin (350 Mbps) and 10 times more powerful than the fastest average internet speed in Ireland. As a result, Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel will be on a par with leading cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo in the international broadband leagues. SIRO’s rollout will commence in the Abbey Court, Brook Lands and Ormond Drive areas of Nenagh from the beginning of October. Roscrea will follow in early 2019. When construction in the three towns is completed approximately 16,000 homes and business premises in Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel will have access to SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic broadband network. As SIRO is an open access wholesale provider, customers will purchase broadband services from one of SIRO’s retail partners when services go live in Clonmel late 2018 and Nenagh in Early 2019. The TLI Group, which has already worked with SIRO in Clonmel and in other towns in the South and South West, has been appointed as build partner for Nenagh and Roscrea. SIRO’s Fibre-to-the-Building technology is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally and is 100% fibre-optic, with no copper at any point to slow it down. For context, downloading a high definition (HD) film of 4 GB (Gigabytes) with a 10 Mbps connection takes an hour - with SIRO it takes 30 seconds. This means that the internet experience of Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel will be transformed, catapulting the town into the international leagues for broadband connectivity creating a platform for future economic development in the region. Aoife Ni Lochlainn of SIRO said: “SIRO is delighted to be bringing 100% fibre optic broadband to the people of Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel. This will have a transformational effect on the digital environment of these three towns, allowing businesses to compete online with their international peers and helping local entrepreneurs and businesses to bring their ideas to life, trading effortlessly around the world. The internet is now at the centre of or lives, whether it’s talking to our loved ones overseas, streaming movies, or selling products to the farthest corners of the globe. Having the same Gigabit connectivity as a city like Tokyo means that residents in Nenagh, Roscrea and Clonmel will experience the latest advances in online education, entertainment and remote working giving them the opportunity to pursue their dream without leaving their town.” SIRO is a joint venture of ESB and Vodafone which is investing €450 million in building Ireland’s first 100% Fibre-to-the-Building broadband 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. The wholesale broadband operator’s network is now live in 30 towns across the country, with 10 retailers offering connections to over 185,000 homes and businesses. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland.  SIRO has formed partnerships with 10 operators – Vodafone, Digiweb, Sky, BT, Carnsore Broadband, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, eNet, Airwire and WestNet – with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the wholesale broadband market. To register for updates about SIRO, please visit siro.ie/register-your-interest/

• SIRO announces €60 million investment to make Ireland’s fastest broadband available to over 75,000 homes and businesses in Cork city and towns
• Cork City (including Little Island and Ballincollig) joined by Midleton, Carrigtwohill, Blarney, Tower and Charleville as new “Gigabit Towns”
• Huawei appointed as build partner for Cork city (65,000 homes and businesses) with TLI Group appointed to oversee rollout services in five new Cork towns (10,000 premises)
• Overall SIRO network to reach 85,000 in County Cork.

17^th September 2018 – An Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney TD has launched a new SIRO plan to provide Cork city with the best access to the most powerful broadband services in Ireland compared to other cities in the country. It marks the first time that SIRO Gigabit broadband will be built in a city of the scale of Cork, with over 65,000 homes and business premises targeted. Building on the successful deployment of SIRO in the Cork towns of Carrigaline, Skibbereen and Mallow, SIRO’s Cork footprint will expand to include a further 10,000 premises in five new towns - Carrigtwohill, Midleton, Blarney, Tower and Charleville. SIRO has built a network of over 185,000 premises in 40 towns around Ireland and Cork (totalling 85,000 premises) will be the largest single SIRO investment, with the €60 million construction plans announced today bringing the wholesale broadband operator’s total spend in the county to €70 million. SIRO has appointed Huawei as its build partner for the Cork city rollout marking the latest in a series of partnerships between the two companies. Huawei is providing end-to-end network equipment for phase one of SIRO’s rollout to 50 regional towns and is currently SIRO’s build partner in Athlone. The two companies also collaborated to run a successful trial of XGS-PON technology on SIRO’s 100% fibre network, which achieved speeds of 10 Gigabits per second. The TLI Group, which has already worked with SIRO on its Carrigaline rollout, has also been appointed to deliver Gigabit connectivity to five new towns added to the wholesale broadband operator’s construction plans. Carrigtwohill, Midleton, Blarney, Tower and Charleville will now also gain access to SIRO’s Fibre-to-the-Building technology, which is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally and is 100% fibre-optic, with no copper at any point to slow it down. Commenting on the announcement, An Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney TD said: “Gigabit connectivity will have a transformative effect on Cork city as Fibre-to-the-Building is recognised as the gold standard for broadband internationally. As a result, this will give Cork businesses a head start against their peers both at home and internationally, as well as giving homes access to the latest innovative digital services. This substantial investment by SIRO is another sign of how Government has encouraged investment by the private sector to boost our broadband capability. Cork stands to benefit substantially as highlighted by 10 other towns in the county all forming part of SIRO’s rollout.” Sean Atkinson, CEO of SIRO, added: “While Cork is traditionally seen as the second capital of Ireland, today’s announcement will firmly establish it as the broadband capital of Ireland. Our Gigabit connectivity will complement Cork’s rich technology heritage and put it on a par with international cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo. Cork city is ideally placed to leverage this with in excess of one million square foot of office space due to come on-stream over the next year, with rental prices less than half the price of equivalent space in Dublin on average; a 23% lower cost of living; and a talented workforce with half of the Cork population under 35 years of age. SIRO is proud to help power a digital transformation in the city, as well as the five new towns revealed today, benefiting residents and businesses alike.” Eric Yang, President of the Vodafone Account at Huawei, also said: “Huawei is delighted to be delivering SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic broadband to Cork City, designing and building a network that will future proof Cork City’s broadband requirements for generations.” Speaking at the launch, Cork Chamber President Bill O’Connell added: “Given the strong growth of sectors such as global financial services, fintech, ICT, SaaS and cyber security in Cork, it is absolutely essential that business is supported by the best quality connectivity. We have the lowest latency transatlantic connection in Europe, new connections to mainland Europe in planning and now the local connectivity to match. It builds further resilience for an economy increasingly driven by data.” SIRO is a joint venture of ESB and Vodafone which is investing €450 million in building Ireland’s first 100% Fibre-to-the-Building broadband 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 (HD) film of 4 GB (Gigabytes) with a 10 Mbps connection takes an hour - with SIRO it takes 30 seconds. The wholesale broadband operator’s network is now live in 30 towns across the country, with 10 retailers offering connections to over 185,000 homes and businesses. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland.  SIRO has formed partnerships with 10 operators – Vodafone, Digiweb, Sky, BT, Carnsore Broadband, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, eNet, Airwire and WestNet – with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the wholesale broadband market

Clonmel To Be Powered By SIRO’s 100% Fibre Optic Gigabit Broadband Network

SIRO, the wholesale broadband operator building Ireland’s 100% fibre-optic broadband network, will update Tipperary County Council (Borough District of Clonmel) today on the roll-out of its 1 Gigabit (1,000Mbps) broadband network in Clonmel. SIRO’s Gigabit connectivity will allow residents and businesses to avail of broadband that is three times faster than the best service available in Dublin (350 Mbps) and 10 times more powerful than the fastest average internet speed in Ireland. As a result, Clonmel will be on a par with leading cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo in the international broadband leagues. SIRO’s rollout will commence in the Barr an Aird, Ard Aoibhann, Ard na Sidhe, and Longfield areas from the end of May. When construction is completed approximately 10,000 homes and business premises in Clonmel will have access to SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic broadband network. As SIRO is an open access wholesale provider, customers will purchase broadband services from one of SIRO’s retail partners when services go live in late 2018. SIRO’s Fibre-to-the-Building technology is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally and is 100% fibre-optic, with no copper at any point to slow it down. This means that the internet experience of Clonmel will be transformed, catapulting the town into the international leagues for broadband connectivity creating a platform for future economic development in the region. Aoife Ni Lochlainn of SIRO said: “SIRO is delighted to be bringing 100% fibre optic broadband to the people of Clonmel. Businesses will be able to compete online with their international peers, as well as giving residents access to the latest online services in areas like education and remote working. The internet is now at the centre of or lives, whether it’s talking to our loved ones overseas, streaming movies, or selling products to the farthest corners of the globe. Having the same Gigabit connectivity as a city like Tokyo means that Clonmel will experience the latest advances in online education and entertainment, with local Clonmel entrepreneurs and businesses able to bring their ideas to life, trading effortlessly around the world.” SIRO is a joint venture of ESB and Vodafone which is investing €450 million in building Ireland’s first 100% Fibre-to-the-Building broadband network, offering a 1 GB (1,000 Mb) internet connection to 500,000 premises in fifty towns across Ireland. 150,000 Irish homes and businesses now have access to SIRO’s unrivalled broadband. This is to rise to 250,000 by the end of 2018. 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 (HD) film of 4 GB (Gigabytes) with a 10 Mbps connection takes an hour - with SIRO it takes 30 seconds. SIRO is offered on an open-access basis to all telecoms retailers in Ireland. SIRO has formed partnerships with Vodafone, Sky, Carnsore Broadband, Digiweb, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, Airwire and WestNet, with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the wholesale broadband market.