Siro passes 175,000 premises with fibre-to-the-home broadband

7 Aug 2018

Siro CEO Sean Atkinson. Image: Julien Behal

Vodafone and ESB joint venture Siro is now focusing on under-served Dublin suburbs as well as regional towns.

Siro is on a roll when it comes to fibre roll-out and the company has confirmed that it is now at 175,000 premises passed by its broadband service.

The company at the weekend said that its 1Gbps broadband network is also being rolled out in 10 new towns, including Dublin suburbs Swords, Balbriggan, Finglas and Tyrellstown.

‘Our 10 new towns announced today is a significant addition to the availability of 100pc gigabit connectivity in Ireland’
– SEAN ATKINSON

Included in this focus are the first 185 homeowners in Phase 1 of Park Developments’ Clay Farm development in Leopardstown, Dublin 18.

Siro CEO Sean Atkinson said that the locations reflect demand in new housing developments for very high-quality broadband services and also the growth in construction projects.

He said the company is working with developers to pre-install services in new residential developments in underserved Dublin suburbs.

10 new towns added to Siro network roll-out

Siro is a €450m joint venture between ESB and Vodafone to deliver fibre broadband to 500,000 homes and businesses across 51 towns in Ireland.

Using the existing ESB network, Siro is delivered through fibre-optic cables which run alongside existing electricity connections, all the way to the building.

The fibre-to-the-home service delivers 1Gbps download and upload speeds

The 10 new towns to become part of the fibre-optic network are Balbriggan, Killarney, Clonmel, Mallow, Shannon, Swords, Ongar, Tyrellstown, Finglas and Clane.

The network is already live in 30 towns across Ireland, with 10 operators offering connections to over 175,000 homes and businesses, along with 25,000 premises already connected to the network.

Siro plans to pass an additional 50,000 premises before the end of the year, bringing its network size to 225,000 homes and businesses.

The 10 operators reselling Siro’s technology include Vodafone, Digiweb, Sky, BT, Carnsore Broadband, Rocket Broadband, Kerry Broadband, E-net, Airwire and WestNet.

Atkinson said more telecoms retailers will come on board to sell its platform.

“Our 10 new towns announced today is a significant addition to the availability of 100pc gigabit connectivity in Ireland and is improving competition in these towns as retailers offer services powered by Siro,” he said.

“The demand for fibre-to-the-home services, which is seen as the gold standard for broadband, is clearly illustrated in the latest Comreg statistics, with connections jumping to over 50,000 premises.

“With 25,000 homes and businesses connected to the SIRO network, we are delivering the best broadband experience in Ireland with our 100pc fibre-optic network.”

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com