NATIONAL Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the National Broadband Plan (NBP) has today hosted an event in the Black Valley in Kerry to mark the first connections to high-speed fibre broadband in the remote location.
Works to connect the Black Valley are almost complete with most homes and farms in the area able to connect to high-speed fibre broadband.
The remaining build works for a small number of premises in the most remote parts of the valley are set to be completed in the coming months.
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Black Valley was famously one of the last regions in Ireland to be connected to the electricity grid in 1977.
The completion of these works will mean that residents in the area will have the same access to 1 Gigabit, reliable broadband as any of the almost 290,000 premises that NBI has passed across the country.
Works to connect the Black Valley involved unique challenges with NBI consulting with government officials, conservationists and local residents to ensure that the fibre rollout to the valley caused minimum disruption or impact to the natural beauty and heritage of the region.
Minister of State Ossian Smyth was present at the event which included local public representatives and residents of the Black Valley. Minister Smyth said: “The rollout to Black Valley encapsulates the work of the National Broadband Plan and I’m very proud to be here today to see first-hand the impact that a connection to high-speed broadband will have for local residents and businesses.”
Peter Hendrick, Chief Executive Officer, National Broadband Ireland said: “The delivery of fibre broadband to the Black Valley is a significant milestone for NBI, and we are delighted to have end customers already connected and enjoying the benefits of reliable, high-speed broadband. This was one of the most challenging parts of our rollout, and we are delivering it with minimum impact to the natural beauty of the region and without disruption to the Black Valley’s important tourism season.”
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