Broadband upgrades not viable for some towns - Eircom

High-speed e-fibre broadband is only available at present in the towns of Cavan, Monaghan and Carrickmacross in the region. While a further 19 towns and villages in County Cavan and 15 in County Monaghan are due for upgrades, Eircom has told The Anglo-Celt (scroll down for the full list).

However, no upgrades are planned for Swanlinbar, Bawnboy, Butlersbridge, Tullyvin, Crosskeys and Canningstown in Cavan and Glaslough in Monaghan because they are “not commercially viable”.
Furthermore, there are huge blackspots in rural areas throughout both counties, in particular in the west Cavan and south Monaghan areas, where there is no broadband available from Eircom at all - save for traditional 'dial-up’ access. This means that other providers such as Sky and uPC cannot offer a service in these areas, as the local exchanges are not enabled.

Householders in these rural areas are dependent on mobile broadband providers and other private companies, such as Arden Broadband but in many areas, the signal is not very strong.
Speaking to The Celt, Paul Bradley, director of corporate affairs with Eircom, said: “The fibre-to-cabinet process, to increase speed, that process is ongoing until 2016.”
In Cavan, Cavan Town has now gone live with more than 5,000 customers now able to order services. “Virginia will go live at the end of April. Baillieborough, Ballyjamesduff and Kingscourt should go live this summer,” he said.
The remaining exchanges scheduled for an upgrade in Cavan are due to be live by July 2016.
The new e-fibre offering, once live, will offer speeds of up to 100Mbps. “But it remains a distance-dependent technology so the further you are away from an exchange the slower the attainable speed,” he said.
In Monaghan; Castleblaney and Clones are due to go live by summer. The remaining locations earmarked for upgrade also have a deadline of July 2016.
In respect of the blackspots that remain, Mr Bradley said: “The Government is aware and will include them in their mapping exercise before they issue the tender to reach the areas that cannot be served on a commercial basis.”

Disadvantage
West Cavan councillor John Paul Feeley (FF) is calling for urgent action on the roll out of high-quality broadband for this region, particularly in his native west Cavan where there is no broadband to speak of between Blacklion and Ballyconnell.
Cllr Feeley said he gets representations about broadband access from constituents on a regular basis. “People are not being able to access the most basic of services. The services that we have are irregular, they’re all based on mobile broadband. To be fair to the service providers, they do the best they can but it the service is inadequate for modern needs whether that’s for students trying to do their coursework, people trying to do their online banking or farmers registering animals, it’s not acceptable. It puts householders and small business owners in rural Ireland at an incredible disadvantage.”
He continued: “The Government’s ultimate aim should be to get fibre optic cables into every home in towns, cities and villages. If every house can have electricity, why can’t they be served by a high speed broadband service?”
Cllr Feeley has suggested that funding should be allocated to upgrade the network through the Rural Development Programme.

ESB network for broadband
Meanwhile, the Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte, recently outlined the potential to rollout broadband nationwide using ESB’s infrastructure. The plan is outlined in the ESB (Electronic Communications Networks) Bill 2013, which is before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
“The ESB has identified an opportunity to use its electricity distribution network to provide telecommunications services in the Irish market. I understand that the company has sought a joint venture partner with a view to providing such services on a wholesale only basis. I am advised that this in turn could facilitate the delivery of high speed broadband services by retail telecommunications operators in the areas served,” said the minister in the Dáil.
“The National Broadband Plan is a clear expression of the importance of broadband infrastructure to the achievement of Ireland’s economic and social objectives. High-speed, quality and reliable broadband as an enabling infrastructure for economic and social development is becoming a critical component of a 21st century society. I believe that the potential to use ESB’s considerable network to deploy fibre will contribute significantly to the commercial deployment of high speed broadband and will be important in terms of meeting the objectives of the National Broadband Plan,” said Minister Rabbitte.

Cavan towns to be upgraded by July 2016

Arva
Bailieborough
Ballinagh
Ballyconnell
Ballyhaise
Ballyjamesduff
Belturbet
Butlersbridge
Cavan
Cootehill
Killeshandra
Kilnaleck
Kingscourt
Loch Gowna
Mountnugent
Mullagh
Redhills
Shercock
Stradone
Virginia

Monaghan towns to be upgraded by July 2016
Annayalla
Ballybay
Broomfield
Carrickmacross
Castleblayney
Castleshane
Clones
Contibret
Emyvale
Inniskeen
Monaghan
Newbliss
Rockcorry
Scotshouse
Scotstown
Smithborough
Stranooden