SIRO Unveils The Brewery as its First 100% Fibre Park
SIRO, the open-access wholesale broadband provider delivering Ireland’s first 100% fibre-optic broadband network, has announced The Brewery in Dundalk as its first Gigabit Park. The connections are available to 39 businesses in the park, provided by SIRO’s retail partner Digiweb. SIRO’s Gigabit connectivity will allow 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.
Built on a 20-acre site on the outskirts of Dundalk, The Brewery Business Park, which is developed on the site of the former Macardle Moore brewery, has been transformed into a vibrant business park, exploiting the many assets that this location possesses.
Digiweb provide several 100% fibre optic broadband packages for both residential and business customers, with speeds ranging from 150 Megabits per second (Mbps) to one Gigabit per second (Gbps), with pricing from as little as €44.95 per month. Digiweb’s “Electric Broadband” services went live in Dundalk in 2016.
New Investment in Dundalk
Commenting on the announcement, SIRO’s Chief Commercial Officer, Ronan Whelan, said: “We are delighted to boost the success of companies in residence at The Brewery Business Park. Dundalk was the first town in the country connected to the SIRO network and the demand has been phenomenal to date. This announcement forms part of our strategy to revitalise towns across Ireland by sparking a digital transformation, helping to attract investment and encouraging more people to establish businesses in regional towns like Dundalk.
“Our network is better than the alternatives as it is powered entirely by light, future-proofing the country’s broadband needs for decades. This investment will give these businesses access to the most powerful broadband available in Ireland, enabling them to have the same competitive advantage in terms of connectivity as leading international hubs like Tokyo and Hong Kong.”
Digiweb Operations Manager, Brendan McGahon, added: “Since joining the SIRO network in 2016, we have seen the profound benefits that our Electric Broadband powered by SIRO delivers to business. Companies at The Brewery Business Park now have access to the gold standard for broadband internationally and we have no doubt that it will enable them to reach new heights. Our Fibre-to-the-Home Electric Broadband powered by SIRO service is now available to over 250,000 premises nationwide. As this number continues to grow, along with our partners in SIRO we will be actively looking for opportunities to provide solutions into similar business parks countrywide.”
SIRO’s Retail Family is Growing
SIRO is a joint venture of ESB and Vodafone which is investing €450 million in building Ireland’s first 100% Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband network to 50 towns and city areas throughout 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.
The wholesale broadband operator’s network now has 11 retailers offering connections to over 250,000 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 11 operators – Vodafone, Digiweb, Sky, BT, Carnsore Broadband, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, eNet, Airwire, Pure Telecom and WestNet – with more retailers expected to come on board as the company drives competition in the wholesale broadband market.