In its bid to win the government’s upcoming National Broadband Plan (NBP) tender, Irish telecoms provider Eircom has revealed that it is deploying fibre broadband at a rate of 10,000 premises per week, Silicon Republic reports, citing the operator’s CEO Richard Moat. Moat commented: ‘By the time we get to 1.6 million premises [passed] next year we would be the player best placed to deliver the final 700,000 [encompassed under the NBP].’ As per Eircom’s 1Q15 financial report, released on Monday, Eircom currently covers 1.2 million homes and businesses with its fibre network, representing more than 50% of all premises in Ireland. The NBP is mooted to cost around EUR516 million (USD587.8 million), with the aim of delivering fibre broadband to more than 600,000 homes and 100,000 businesses across rural Ireland.
Meanwhile, a dispute between Eircom, BT Ireland and regulator ComReg, regarding the location of new fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) infrastructure, has resulted in around 100,000 homes and businesses being denied access to 100Mbps downlink speeds. Silicon Republic reports that the issue centres on the placement of equipment in exchanges rather than on streets, where space is at a premium, causing signal interference and affecting the delivery of services to end-users. Moat commented: ‘The technical issues are under examination … Whether it is customers of Eircom retail or our wholesale partners these are homes that could be passed and I hope it doesn’t run on and on. It is in the interest of those customers that we hope it gets revolved soon.’