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Updated 17.50
EIRCOM HAS ANNOUNCED it is expanding its high-speed broadband to a further 300,000 homes in 1,070 communities throughout Ireland.
This includes 300 areas that currently have no access to high-speed broadband, including Fybagh, Co Kerry; Blacksod, Co Mayo; Goleen, Co Cork; Maam, Co Galway; and Ring, Co Waterford.
Eircom said that about half of Ireland – 1.2 million homes and businesses – currently has access to high-speed broadband on their network and the company remains on track to reach 70% of the country by the end of 2016.
By 2020, that figure will rise to 80% of the country, with 35% of all homes and business accessing broadband speeds of up to 1Gb/s when construction has been completed. By then, its fibre footprint will extend to 1.9 million premises.
Want to check if your village or town is getting access? A county-by-county breakdown is available on the company’s website .
But despite boasting the biggest fibre network in the country, Eircom still lags significantly behind UPC when it comes to enticing the customers.
Eircom had 242,000 fibre subscribers in March this year, compared to 365,800 for its super-fast broadband rival. However, the customer base of the former state telecoms provider has more than doubled in the past 12 months, compared to a 5% rise at UPC.
In an interview at TheJournal.ie’s offices today, Jon Florsheim, the managing director of Eircom’s consumer division, admitted UPC had been given “a bit of a head start” and his company was still playing catch-up in its fibre business.
We’re going to be well ahead of those guys in terms of our (network) offering of super-fast broadband across Ireland … our ambition is to be the biggest,” he said.
Here’s what he had to say when we whether Eircom was satisfied with the take-up of its fibre broadband after spending over €290 million on its network so far:
Communications Minister Alex White welcomed the announcement and said officials in his department will “revise their National Broadband Plan intervention assumptions and models to take account of eircom’s expanded plans”.
Torlach Denihan, Director of the Telecommunications and Internet Federation (TIF), said the telecoms industry has invested about €3.2 billion in network infrastructure and licences since 2010.
He called on the government to “respond to the level of industry investment by committing sufficient funding via the National Broadband Plan to deliver high-speed broadband to those areas where it is uneconomic for the private sector to do so”.
Additional reporting Peter Bodkin
First published 2.44pm
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They told me I’d have broadband six years ago before I bought my house. Said I’d have it within the year. Never happened. My area was on the e-fiber upgrade list released last year to be upgraded this year but now it’s been moved to “planning” on the new list. Their promises aren’t really worth anything.
When I read ” eircom “, I just laughed. In about fifty years they might resolve to answer a call from a customer properly.
Efiber arrived 6 years ago in my town..I live 4km from town and cannot get it. Eircom are rubbish
Same experience Mickey
All the other major providers piggyback on their lines as well. There must be a lad with a spoon and a length of cable laying lines throughout ireland. 6 years and he’s gone 10 feet
When I saw the #YESSSS I thought the same
Then I saw Eircom
#NOOOOOO
UPC are rubbish, I was promised superfast speeds but everytime I did a speed test all I was getting was 16Mpbs so I switched to Eircom and can now download a 1GB file in less than 2 minutes.
Never had a problem with them and always find their customer care team very helpful.
On another note if you get a call from a company called Yourtell avoid them like the plague, they pretend they are a subsidiary of Eircom and promise you the moon and the stars but all you get is ripped off, I complained to ComReg on behalf of an elderly neighbour who was duped by them and was told that they are a shower of cowboys.
Too true I live in Clontarf and was told we would have it two years ago. Guess what? That’s right still waiting. Didn’t read all the article but the places in Kerry and further a field will need plenty of luck if eircom can’t provide it in D3.
Eircom are rubbish, we get (on a good day) 2-3mbps down, 0.3-0.5(!) up. Silly, overpriced service.
Broadband in Ireland is pure rubbish high speed me hole
Agreed Francis, and when you complain about not getting the MB’s promised, they tell you that it doesn’t apply if your device is not connected by a cable to the box.ie not to wireless. Where is that made clear in any of the provider’s advertising ?
I assume you mean Megabytes and “Megabits”. I’m pretty sure a Megabite is that crappy Big Mac wannabe in my local chipper.
It’s not even in Merrion Sq yet
Don’t believe a word they say.I live in Dublin and couldn’t get 7 of the 120 I WAS PAYING FOR
Can’t even get broadband with eircom not available in my area waiting now for the last 11 years
Me neither.Have to have satelitte broadband at 35 euro per month, but at least it works
Me too although just dumped it as getting very slow in evening. Gone back to crappy 3 which is great sometimes and crap the rest. No chance of getting fixed line broadband at this rate. I thought ESB would be the answer but it took them 10 years after the Tuam trial to start rolling it out to Galway CITY!
Spent 36 hours uploading a 1.85gig video and still wasn’t finished. Gave up as I needed to use the computer for other things.
A one winged carrier pigeon would be quicker.
Yea they’re sly with upload speeds especially. They push download speeds in their adverts (cos it’s what most people use) but then god help you trying to upload anything big.
If you live near ucd, they’re fast WiFi that’s good for uploading. Pop out for an hour.
Fully agree with you. Even trying to upload one big picture (we’ll say 3000x3000px as a example) cuts my connection and resets.
And that is with both eircom and Vodafone.
Hell, even 4G is better than my home broadband. That’s how bad it has got.
I live in a new house build (well new 7 years ago). All the old houses in the village are connect to a cabinet that was upgraded to eFibre a while back. The 30 or house new houses where all connected directly to the local exchanges which is a line length of over 3KM. So the most that is possible is 1.5Mbps…….
They said you area is covered when in fact only some of the area is covered. Gong by their coverage map you would think Internet speeds are great for everyone…
Francis a gross generalisation. Broadband in certain areas of Ireland is excellent but whole swathes of the country are without access. However it is improving rapidly. We are not unique. You will find similar issues in the UK and the USA for example. Our widely dispersed low density population doesn’t help either.
It’s easy to become frustrated and cynical given the promises of the past. However we should be thankful that those expensive promises were not carried thorough. If they had been we have a 20th century low bandwidth solution in place at great cost instead of what is now being invested in – super fast broadband. Sometimes clouds do have silver linings!
Notwithstanding this there will be isolated areas that will not have braid and access and other solutions will have to be found for them including high speed wireless.
Sorry Chris that reply is meant for Francis below.
I was wondering about that haha.
John I live in D3 the fastest I can get with Eircom is 17. Brutal with teenagers and adults trying to do stuff. Can’t wait until my contract is up.
Sorry to hear that Stephen. Must be terribly frustrating. I’m with UPC broadband and find them great. But it is he hit and miss nature of the locality that I think irritates people. All I can say is that with recent developments I think Ireland is getting there. But when you hear that D3 is dealing with crap broadband one would wonder. If the capital can’t do it what hope is there? Nonetheless the recent decisions on fibre broadband are a massive step in the right direction. As well as this we are seeing the construction of a digital broadband ring for Govt services located all around Ireland. We’re getting there. Belatedly but finally.
AVOID EIRCOM !!! Any other provider over them for a start
First rule of news headlines, if a headline is phrased as a yes/no question, then the answer is usually no.
don’t touch eircom! they are a company who customer service mentality is still stuck in the 1980s.
Just checked the map, the efibre cabinet which is approximately 200 metres as the crow flies from my house, is live. Just ran a speed test and ……………………………..
1.4mb download speed. 89kb upload speed.
Way to go eircom. If that cabinet is ‘live’, it must be on life support!!
Middle class check the pole outside that your line is connected to. It should have two small grey boxes at the top. If not you aren’t connected to the cabinet just like me and unlike all my neighbours except four other houses.
You need to order the upgrace from one of the telcos to get a speed increase MCC
What do people actually use super fast broadband for? Even basic broadband is good enough for HD streaming. Is this for gaming or something?
Downloading torrents, hi-def stuff can be 5gb +
Porn in HD.
Because they are told they need 100+ Mbps lines by UPC/Eircom’s amazing next generation supferfast marketing departments.
There is no point in trying to roll out dsl to dispersed settlements, the speed is too dependent on distance from exchange. FTTH doesn’t have the same issue.
High speed internet means iptv can be provided. There are also issues with contention on the lines depending on the type of technology used to implement the service. It will also future proof the service; we didnt need the speeds we currently use 5 years ago. With wifi controllable domestic appliances and the likes due to become the norm, and the ever increasing data tsunami we are facing, high speeds will be essential. Between this and the esb/vodafone venture, the future is looking a lot better for the average user in Ireland, nevermind the ability to entice foreign IT firms and the financial benefits to the economy associated with having well developed, up to date broadband infrastucture.
My 2Mb disagrees. Most of the time I even get 1Mb from it. Even YouTube can’t be played without constant buffering. Forget about Netflix.
1. Host your own Web server.
2. Transferring files at speed.
3. CCTV (proper cctv cloud storage)
4. Remote login – Pc repair
5. Live Web events (YouTube live)
6. 1080p+ HD streaming
7. Gaming
Stuff like that.
Also several different devices connected at once (most people need to upgrade their ancient router mind)
2 or 3 people watching Netflix simultaneously?
Yes it is great for gaming, and if your live streaming too. I get 240mbps download and 20Mb upload with upc, Drops to about 230-220 at peak times!
Do you live in the exchange ?
240mbps = 30MBps
Not sure why the red thumbs,i get the same speeds with upc,it’s eircom that loses strength depending how far you are from the exchange out on the road.
I thought the customer service might be bad but it was great so far.
They might want to give Horizon a shout and explain this high speed broadband business. It’s as slow as it was when you used to have to run a cable from one end of the house to the other! Absolute COWBOYS TED!!
Dublin 16. Couldn’t get Eircom to even given us an estimate for efibre so we changed provider. Won’t be going back!
Caroline do you have UPC broadband access as most in D 16 do. If you have try them. It’s good and it’s fast.
Thanks – this is exactly what we did
Thanks – this is exactly what we did
Cancelled my internet as feck all coverage in my area last September. Because I didn’t ring them back with the seriel number of the booster box they have continued to charge me for something I can’t use even though I have been on to them repeatedly! They won’t close my account until I pay. So to say that im not holding my breath for any provider to roll out broadband is an understatement
@ Cathrine, if you were withe Eircom, have fun, they eventually sent my account to their debt collection ppl, I still didn’t pay for their “free ” router which I sent back. Any door to door dales man from them will be shot, if he survives he will be shot again(with my non existan gun) then eaten by my non existant rothwiller!!! ggggrrrrrrrrrr
I’m not sure if it’s “Super Fast”. But I’ve had Sky broadband for the past few months and does the job fine, 1080p streaming with no buffer and downloads movies quite fast. Live in the sticks as well so if anyone is waiting for Eircom maybe look into Sky!*
* I don’t work for them btw, but surely they should be giving me a month free after that sell.
Sky piggyback on Eircom lines so you could get the same broadband with eircom I would imagine. Just go with whichever company offers you the best price
E fibre is supposed to give up to 100mbs but the most I get is around 20mbs. The phone line quality is cr@p, can’t even make or receive calls and eircom won’t replace it
They’re trying to roll it out now so they can introduce an internet tax, another tax to rip us off with.
I was recently upgraded to E Fibre and I found it no better. I actually found it to be struggling with just Netflix just like it would before.
Here in Wexford only around half the town has high speed broadband. Will this change anything?
I’ll only believe it when it happens…all talk no action
I contacted Eircom in May to avail of their Efibre offer for TV, broadband and phone. Was told my area was able to support the product so I ordered same. Just last week I contacted Eircom to change the installation date and they told me the order was cancelled because Efibre is not available in my area. No prior mail or correspondence to tell me of same. Just as well I haven’t cancelled my existing provider. Eircom is total sh@t and the attitude of their web chat employees borders on the ridiculous. My advice to anyone and thIs seems to be a common thread – STEER CLEAR OF EIRCOM aka AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!’nmmm
One question, why do we have to have fixed line or fibre? What if the money went to wireless technology for example nationwide roll out of 4g, get away from laying pipe and letting it just go wirelessly? Then if you want wired you can get it in designated urban hubs. The aim should be a benchmark for 4g across 90% of the island and call me a traditionalist but I’d like to be able to get over 5mb on top Croagh Patrick for all my selfies with Enda.
Ken because wireless networks have limitations that fibre networks do not have including lower speeds and connectivity issues. You need fibre connections to the home or business for reliability. However 4G and more advanced wireless technologies will also be rolled out. It’s not either/or, it’s both because both wireless and fixed are needed.
John I agree with you definitely, if you have to conduct data analysis from cloud sources or use remote servers you definitely need fixed line without question, not to mention VOIP. However I feel for purely domestic purposes for netflix and the like, would wireless cover it? For instance a neighbourhood system (not correct name) like what universities in Ireland use (EDUROAM), for instance when I’m on campus somewhere like DCU I can get 100mb down and 100mb up as long as I’m a student or in my case a former student. I know you are gonna come back and say not suitable for business but… domestic, what do you think? Very few people have phone lines anymore at home.
The problem with wireless is that the bandwidth is shared among a very wide pool of people. You might be able to watch a netflix video on 4G, but as the number of people that rely on it goes up, the bandwidth per person will drop. Most wired also has shared bandwidth (hence why so many people run into issues as soon as everybody gets home from work), but there is a much lower limit on the number of people you have to share with, and that number is dropping as fiber is gets rolled out.
Ken I think John Horan below has nailed it. Even when I stream at home I usually directly connect to the router using an Ethernet cable in lieu of wireless although my wireless is fast. Wireless in the community has huge limitations especially given the topography of certain areas and bandwidth limitations. I think that as technology advances some of these limitations will be overcome. Indeed some wireless trials have hit absolutely phenomenal speeds using new technologies. But that is somewhat down the road. For now I think a direct connection and preferably fibre optic is the best mode for connecting. That gives you a wireless option in the home/business and and a direct connection via Ethernet as well. Community wireless is simply too prone to being hogged by high demand users. You can impose individual download limits but this kind of defeats the purpose. But who knows what the future holds?
No compulsory purchase of land for housing or cap on housing land prices near existing serviced areas / towns and villages (1974 Kenny Report?) like developed countries.So Irish build up every side road and boreen on the Island and expect urban services at same economy of scale unit cost.You voted for this situation .. probably in innocence.
A town near me has 1/2 mb , I’m in the country side and have nearly 3-4mbs. The system is a mess and it has nothing to do with were people built or bought land.
Dave it has everything to do with decisions that people have made. If you disperse a population you cannot to do certain things which require scale or they cost far far more. In Ireland’s case both apply, even in Dublin, which for a capital city is relatively low density. Public transports, telecoms, electricity etc are all diminished by low density. But we also need a national approach which you correctly identify. However we seem to be finally getting there.
Our area still not on here dial up it is
Great advertisement for Eircom ???
Just called them on seeing the news item. Person I spoke too seemed unaware of this announcement! Gave them three family member numbers that the map suggest now available and got a no and no plan to supply – what a joke news item
Map says Croom in co LImerick has fibre, it has 1/2 a mb , that map is an utterly and bullsh*t.
the best place to see what is going on is here http://www.eircomwholesale.ie/Our_Network/
If only I could get my phone line out from underneath my neighbours driveway …
6 years ago they promised 3mbps to Menlo, Galway but to this day my family are lucky to get 0.5mbps, dial-up broadband and phone line for e160ish p.m.
Whenever I would call their customer service to complain about the speed, miraculously for 24hrs the speed would be doubled to 1mbps. Don’t trust Eircom with a cent of your hard earned money when they aren’t capable of putting effort into their service.
I live about 7 or 8 fields away from a town called Charleville about 5k population that has 100mbs. I have 4 mbs(2.5-3mbs on average) . My ping is extremely low but basically I do not have fibre because some idiot has decided not to plug me into a cabinet ,
So basically my line can take it , my router can take it but yet no fiber because the computer says no, funny thing is the bill is the same though.
I also notice Jp mcmanus has a fibre line running from limerick past his house, via bruff and onto Kilmallock . Yet from patrickswell to charleville along the main cork limerick road there are no fibre lines whatsoever . They have killed Croom town because of this, both banks are gone, an eircom engineer told me they average 1/2 mb there.
The biggest mistake made in the history of this state, bold statement I know , was leaving the tax payers infrastructure in the hands of the pirate company that is eircom. Btw if you think the statement is OT visit croom sometime, see what happens to an area that doesn’t have broadband.
Still on 0.8MB ( yep the decimal point is in the right place ) broadband, and a home phone that is not even plugged in…….., cant see it changing anytime soon………. eircom.
Eircom users outside of city centres are probably all still on dial-up speeds but just paying outrageous fees because Eircom know well they can get away with ripping off the older, less computer savvy people like my parents. Eircom at my family home isn’t even fast enough for my little sister to upload college stuff.
Well they certainly aren’t “super-fast” at installing it! We’ve been waiting since March for them to connect us!
They can stick these press releases up their arse. On their map for 2014 our area was due to get in and turned green. I phoned up and was told the map is only a rough guide and it was unavailable with no planned date. Looking at the rest of the comments here they’re a fecking disgrace and shouldn’t be allowed to advertise this misleading information
Dont believe it until I actually see it, must be getting near election time again?
I got a pain in me hole with Eircom. The supposed 100 Mb/s e-fibre line was only giving me about 93 Mb/s.
Switched to UPC, and actually did get the 120 Mb/s they promised. That was all well and good until 2 months after signing an 18 month contract, they came out with a 240 Mb/s line for €5 less. Sickener.
By the way, no Wi-Fi device is capable of the speed offered by your ISP, unless you have top of the line hardware.
My UPC broadband in South Dublin is OK.
I went from 10Mb to 45Mb. Broadband in Ireland is good if you live in an urban area. We’re the 44th fastest country in the world: http://www.netindex.com/download/allcountries/
We were higher but our average speed ahs stagnated for the last few.
The reason why broadband is slow in rural areas is because speeds over copper line deteriorate with distance, so the longer your telephone line is, the slower your speed. About 30% of Ireland’s population live outside of urban areas and it’s very expensive to deliver broadband to one-off housing, so that’s the reason why there’s a lot of unhappy people in Ireland.
Ireland is getting a 100% FTTH rollout in the next few years, so we soon be amongst the fastest countries in the world. The problem is: it’s going to cost the taxpayer a few billion euro because the government are subsidizing it.
I’m in high speed broadband area. I 2mb download speed. I’ve sent emails and called Eircom. they’ve never responded.
Would they not give everyone broadband first before upgrading everyone else? Everyone in my local village and the next one over can access broadband through the telephone line, except mine and my two neighbours
Of course not, don’t be ridiculous.
our town got efibre a few years now , but i live 150 yards from people that can get efibre and on a populated Estate, they say that profits are down but if they run a cabinet 150 yards thats around 60 houses that will sign up.
What a load of bull. We haven’t even got “normal” broadband yet. Have to rely on crappy mobile broadband companies who also don’t want to invest in providing a reasonable signal or bandwidth. If you don’t live in a city or at least a small town you’re not wanted in this country. Why spend any money on us?
Still on dial up in Valleymount, Co. Wicklow.
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