Half of adults in Cavan rely on broadband for work

Over half of adults in County Cavan now rely on broadband for work, new research by Sky has revealed.

With more people than ever working from home or remote learning over the last year, the research, conducted by Empathy Research, also showed that almost half of those surveyed said that broadband was critical to daily life.

More time at home has meant more reliance on a good broadband connection and more opportunities to discover how a poor broadband connection can impact our everyday lives.

As part of the National Broadband Plan, approximately 544,000 premises will be passed under the programme, meaning more people than ever can experience the benefits of a good broadband connection.

Nearly one third of people in Cavan have missed a live sports match and a quarter of those surveyed have missed a call with friends or family due to a poor broadband connection.

Poor broadband also results in wasted time trying to get to connected and increased frustration among service users.

Sky’s research shows that half of people in Cavan would spend any extra time they have with family and 44% of people would use any extra time for exercise.

The publication of the research coincides with the launch of Sky Broadband Ultrafast in the county, in partnership with National Broadband Ireland.

JD Buckley, CEO Sky Ireland, said: “As people have spent an unprecedented amount of time at home over the last year, the importance of connectivity has become more apparent than ever.

"Our research has shown just how crucial broadband is to people and that a better broadband connection would allow people to improve their connections with friends and family as well as improving their productivity."

He added: "As more NBI towns are passed we look forward to connecting even more of Ireland.”

Sky Broadband Ultrafast costs €35 per month. Promising speeds of up to 1Gb/s, it claims to be ten times faster than standard broadband enabling users to simultaneously download, stream and share content on multiple devices without interruption.

Sky is encouraging those who are looking for high-speed fibre broadband as it is being rolled out, to register their interest at www.sky.ie/RegisterForUltrafast

SURVEY RESULTS

- 56% of Cavan people believe that an improved broadband connection would help them keep in touch with friends

- Over a third (34%) of Cavan adults think it’s possible to get a better broadband connection than their current one

- Reliability and speed are the most important elements of broadband for people in Cavan

- One third of (33%) adults in Cavan claim that broadband difficulties leaves them always or quite often frustrated

* 1,040 adults in County Cavan were surveyed