The Border Midland Western Regional Assembly has announced that the Virginia Development Association, in partnership with broadband provider Digiweb, has been given the go-ahead for a pilot wireless broadband service for the town and its hinterland.
Virginia is experiencing significant population growth and is tipped to be the county’s second largest town within 10 years. The town however will not benefit from the broadband rollout under the National Development Plan, hence the initiative supported by the BMW.
“The funding available will provide seed capital to establish a service that will offer an efficient, cost effective, ‘always-on’ internet service locally for the benefit of business, domestic and public service users; a wireless solution will deliver download speeds of up to 512kbps – almost 10 times faster than currently available in rural communities,” said BMW director Gerry Finn.
The Virginia Development Association is a non-profit organisation established in 1989 with the objective of developing and promoting the town and its environs for the benefit of the wider community, and seeks to improve amenities, business opportunities and tourism infrastructure.
The announcement is the second recent coup for Digiweb, a Louth based satellite and wireless provider. Earlier this year it was selected to roll out a wireless broadband services trial throughout County Louth under the Dept. of Communications WLAN Pilot Programme.
By Dick O’Brien