The ‘Gigabit Hub Initiative’ spearheaded by Vodafone Ireland and SIRO, which aims to spark a digital transformation in 15 towns across Ireland, is now open to hubs based in 15 towns: Dundalk, Cavan town, Carrigaline, Sligo, Letterkenny, Wexford town, Drogheda, Portlaoise, Castlebar, Mullingar, Newbridge, Ennis, Ratheniska, Tralee and Carlow town. Vodafone and SIRO will offer a 1Gbps broadband connection to qualifying businesses free of charge for two years, with a view to significantly strengthening and growing thousands of jobs across Ireland.
SIRO is a joint venture between the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and Vodafone, which aims to deliver a Gigabit-capable fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) broadband network. Phase One, which started in early 2015, will see SIRO initially reaching 500,000 premises in 51 towns, and is expected to be fully rolled-out by the end of 2018.