Magnet Networks to unbundle 40 exchanges by end-2006

According to Irish online news portal siliconrepublic.com, alternative broadband services provider Magnet Networks hopes to have unbundled 40 local exchanges in the country by the end of 2006, giving it access to a significant portion of the country’s population for broadband services. Magnet is spending EUR65 million on its network rollout, part of an ongoing project that has seen 30 exchanges unbundled across Ireland so far, including a dozen or so with SDSL technology. In addition, the company says its national fibre-optic network links Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Portlaoise and Waterford and interconnects with the government’s metropolitan area networks (MANs).