Irish Broadband beats 20,000 subscriber mark


6 Jan 2006

Irish Broadband has surpassed the 20,000-subscriber number, beating its own expectations, the company revealed today.

Referring to the recently quarterly report on the Irish communications market issued by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), Irish Broadband pointed out that while overall broadband subscriptions increased by nearly 19pc, fixed wireless broadband services proved to be among the fastest growing broadband platforms with 37pc quarter-on-quarter growth.

This represents a year-on-year growth of 1,018pc and a record figure of 24,600 subscribers across all wireless broadband providers.

Paul Doody, managing director of Irish Broadband commented: “The last quarter was particularly strong for us, due to a hugely positive response to our aggressive marketing and advertising drive. The figures demonstrate that, in a very short period, Irish Broadband has established a position of strength in the market as a realistic broadband option for Irish consumers, in place of the existing duopoly.”

Early last year, Irish Broadband secured an €18m investment from National Toll Roads (NTR) and Kilsaran Concrete Products that saw both invest in the company on a 50:50 basis. The investment will give Kilsaran a 28pc stake in Irish Broadband, which is a subsidiary of NTR.

In addition, Irish Broadband emerged as one of the successful bidders for a portion of the Government’s €18m Broadband for Schools project.

The company currently provides fixed wireless data services with speeds ranging from 512Kbps up to 6Mbps and its customer base includes home users, SMEs and large corporates. Its service to business and home internet users includes high-speed always-on internet access with unlimited connection to the internet from €24.99 per month for home users and €40 per month for business users.

By John Kennedy