Eircom competes to partner government in National Broadband Plan

Irish fixed and mobile operator Eircom has revealed its desire to be the government’s partner in a plan to provide fibre-to-the-premises (FTTx) to 600,000 homes and 100,000 businesses across the country under the National Broadband Plan. As the top-placed broadband provider in Ireland in terms of subscribers, with 37.8% of the market at 30 September, Eircom plans to spend EUR1.5 billion (USD1.8 billion) on infrastructure upgrades to connect 1.6 million homes with fibre broadband, inclusive of its recent plan to increase fibre speeds to 1Gbps in 66 towns by mid-2016. Eircom CEO Richard Moat comments that Eircom is working hard to produce proposals for the National Broadband Plan, saying: ‘We think it is vital to be the winning player in the competition and we think we’re the company most strongly positioned to achieve that.’