UPC Business has increased its broadband speeds to 30Mbps, 20Mbps and 10Mbps for the Irish SME market.
It is estimated that out of 165,000 companies in Ireland, 82pc are small and medium sized enterprises and four out of every five firms in Ireland employ less than 35 people.
UPC’s €90 million capital investment this year has enabled this speed change and also through ongoing investments built an international IP backbone which carries data, voice & video traffic via its advanced core optical rings across Europe and to the US.
Since it was built in 1998, the international backbone has become one of the top 20 IP- backbones in the world today. In Europe it is the second largest IP transport network and in Ireland UPC’s network has an extensive national fibre and wireless network that connects the five main cities, fourteen regional towns and rural Ireland.
“Telecommunications is key to developing the smart economy,” said Gavan Smyth, Business Services Director at UPC Business.
“It is important to balance the demands of the market with the responsibility of government as a unified approach can provide more customer choice, delivered across a sophisticated and more environmentally aware broadband network.
“This should enable Irish businesses to compete locally, nationally and on an internal global platform and also help Ireland attract foreign direct investment to help our economy grow again.
“Our competitive advantage lies in both our high capacity optical national fibre network and the breadth of product portfolio, which spans the complete spectrum of business communications. As a leading business communications provider we’re able to deliver faster speeds, reduce SME bills by over 30pc and pass on the savings to each client.
“We are constantly looking at new ways to improve the way Irish companies can do business, and our ongoing investment programme is key to this strategy,” Smyth said.
The new broadband packages require an €80 connection charge but no line rental. The monthly costs are: €49 per month for the 10Mbps service; €59 per month for the 20Mbps service and €69 per month for the 30Mbps service. The 20Mbps and 30Mbps service includes up to 10 phone lines free of charge.
By John Kennedy
