UPC has unveiled a new range of broadband speeds for SMEs ranging from 10Mbps right up to 30Mbps in a move that will add impetus to the fibre-powered broadband market in Ireland.
It is estimated that out of 165,000 companies in Ireland, 82pc are small and medium-sized enterprises, four out of every five firms in Ireland employ less than 35 people.
UPC’s €90 million investment has enabled this speed change and also through ongoing investments built an international IP backbone which carries data, voice and video traffic via its advanced core optical rings across Europe and to the USA.
Since it was built in 1998, the backbone has become one of the top 20 IP backbones in the world today.
Ireland’s network
In Europe, it is the second-largest IP transport network and in Ireland our network has an extensive national fibre and wireless network that connects the five main cities, 14 regional towns and rural Ireland. The network offers international connectivity to most of the major cities in Europe and the US.
Out of the three new packages, the basic 10Mbps service has a connection fee of €80, no line rental, two voice lines and has an upload capability of 1Mbps, costing €49 per month. The 20Mbps service has a 1.5Mbps upload speed, four voice lines and costs €59 per month.
The 30Mbps service has an upload capacity of 3Mbps and comes with six voice lines.
“Telecommunications is key to developing the smart economy,” Gavan Smyth, business services director at UPC Business said.
“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.
By John Kennedy
Photo: UPC has unveiled a range of 10Mbps-30Mbps broadband speeds for SMEs
