Internet speeds for over a million people in rural Ireland will be trebled under new plans unveiled on Friday.
The company behind rolling out broadband to remote parts of the country revealed it is to boost the minimum download speed from 150 to 500 megabits per second.
There will also be superfast 1 Gigabit per second products when the network goes live in homes, businesses and schools.
The pledge was made by National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company delivering the National Broadband Plan on behalf of the Government.
It also revealed that construction on its fibre technology network is starting this month in Cork and Cavan before moving to Galway.
NBI claimed the work will bring “world-leading speeds” to people living and working in rural Ireland.
It vowed to end a rural-urban digital divide as online access has become even more urgent during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company has committed to bringing internet to over half a million premises in out of the way locations in an intervention area covering 96 percent of the island’s landmass.
Executive Chairman, David McCourt, said: “In undertaking the National Broadband Plan, the Irish Government is revolutionising the opportunities for people in rural Ireland, who will have the ability to connect to local and global opportunity for the first time with high-speed broadband.
“Since the global Covid-19 pandemic struck in Ireland over six months ago, many people’s lives have changed significantly, and we are much more reliant on digital connectivity than ever before.
“Today’s announcement to increase our minimum speeds empowers every person, every school, every farm and every business in the Intervention Area to gain access to truly world-leading speeds and we are incredibly proud to be playing our part in bringing this to rural Ireland.”
Over the past six months NBI has surveyed over 63,000 premises in 17 counties.
Householders and business owners can check their eligibility to join the network and register for updates at www.nbi.ie.
