NTL has struck a deal with ESB Telecom that will see the cable TV and internet services provider deploy broadband services to customers in Galway and Waterford on the back of ESB’s 1,300km fibre-optic network.
During the third quarter of this year NTL commenced an investment programme to enable its network to deliver broadband services to consumers and now claims it can reach more than f66,500 homes in the Dublin area with its broadband services.
ESB Telecom, a subsidiary of the semi-state electricity provider, has established itself as a provider of wholesale fibre-optic services to telecoms and has built a 1,300km fibre-optic network throughout Ireland utilising ESB’s national electricity transmission assets. The network includes 14 points of presence and connections to several of the Irish Government funded metropolitan area networks.
Under the agreement, ESB Telecom will supply bandwidth services between major nodes on its network to NTL, enabling it to reach other parts of its cable network areas in Ireland, particularly Galway and Waterford.
Graham Sutherland, managing director of NTL Ireland, said that the deal reinforces his company’s commitment to the Irish marketplace and will support NTL in its drive to deliver broadband services to the rest of its network.
Sutherland said: “It is critical for Ireland to have a world-class ICT infrastructure. We at NTL Ireland have made a commitment to the Irish marketplace and today’s agreement adds further momentum to our broadband expansion programme, which will deliver new services to our domestic and business customers.
“This move also supports the Government’s desire to roll out broadband to the regions and NTL is determined to be a major player in all such initiatives,” Sutherland said.
Although best known as a provider of TV services to consumers, NTL’s Irish operations also have a strong role in providing telecoms services to small and medium-size enterprise, corporate, financial and public sector organisations. Services include voice, leased lines, metro Ethernet, internet, managed virtual private networks and security solutions. In February, the company was chosen to provide HEAnet with cross-border data services over gigabit Ethernet between Dublin and Belfast.
Commenting on the deal with NTL, John McSweeney, general manager of ESB Telecom, said: “This agreement is a further step towards broadening the distribution of broadband and digital TV services in Ireland.”
By John Kennedy
