Clare Island has finally got to join the digital age
High-speed broadband is finally coming to Clare Island.
National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the National Broadband Plan (NBP), has announced that residents on the West Mayo island can now place an order for high-speed fibre broadband, with connections set to go live in late summer.
In total, 169 premises on Clare Island will have access to high-speed broadband on the NBI network.
The NBI infrastructure is already live on ten islands including Inishlyre Island and Collanmore Island off the coast of Mayo; Hare Island and Long Island off the coast of Cork; Turbot Island and Inishturk South Island off the coast of Galway; as well as Inishfree Island, Rutland Island, Eadarinis Island and Eighter Island off the coast of Donegal.
NBI has now passed 320,829 homes, farms and businesses in rural Ireland to high-speed broadband with just over 108,876 now connected. The average take-up rate of 34% is well ahead of projections and international comparisons and surpasses 50% in areas of the country where the network has been live for 18 months.
Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer of National Broadband Ireland, said: “At the heart of the National Broadband Plan is our mission to ensure that no community is left behind. This is true for all remote and rural areas across Ireland, including our island communities.
“We are proud to deliver high-speed broadband infrastructure to residents of Clare Island. These communities will have access to the same quality, speeds and reliability that our network offers to anyone living on the mainland.
“With almost 70 different internet providers offering broadband services on the NBI network and with January typically being switching season, there are certainly merit in shopping around to see what options are available. Residents on the islands can visit www.nbi.ie to place an order with the broadband provider of their choice, or they can call our contact centre on 0818 624 624 to register for Eircode-specific updates on when the network will go live.”
Some 37,000 premises in Co Mayo are included in the State’s Intervention Area, which will see NBI deliver minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second to homes, businesses, farms, and schools. As the biggest investment in rural Ireland since rural electrification, Co Mayo will receive €145 million of Government investment under the National Broadband Plan.
Works have already been completed in other parts of Mayo and there is a total of 11,820 premises that can now pre-order or order high-speed, reliable broadband across the county with 3,466 connections made so far.
