THE roll out of high-speed broadband to over 28,000 premises in Kerry has moved one step closer, as the Government announced that work to finalise the contract for the National Broadband Plan (NBP) is well progressed.
Kerry will receive an investment of €113 million to provide fibre broadband to 28,706 homes in the Intervention Area (IA).
This is a mapped area of rural Ireland where high-speed broadband is currently not commercially available and it encompasses over half a million premises, including 56,000 farms and 44,000 businesses.
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In Kerry, this includes areas such as Ballyhar, Valentia Island and Banemore. In total,32% of all premises in Kerry will be passed and eligible for connection.
The high-speed broadband is set to revolutionise working and home life for many who have had limited or congested connectivity up until now.
Commenting on the latest news, Ken Tobin of Tralee Chamber Alliance said, “We welcome this very significant investment of €113million for the provision of high-speed broadband to over 28,000 homes and businesses in Kerry. This signifies a considerable step towards addressing the competitive challenges for the more rural areas of the county to attract jobs and enterprise. This investment will enable a great number of community groups and small businesses but in particular, the investment will open up opportunities for even more people to return and work in Kerry”.
NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said his team are continuing to work hard to ensure contract close in the coming months; “Some members of the team recently met with regional service providers – including several from Kerry – for information briefings about how their businesses can integrate with the NBP. We have also initiated a regional communications campaign to ensure local media and public representatives are provided with up to date and important information regarding the project, to ensure they can deliver that to the public. We look forward to engaging with local communities in the future once the contract is signed and we start our work across Ireland”.
“In addition to the €113 million we will be investing in Kerry, we will also be creating 2,000 jobs across rural Ireland with the national roll-out of broadband, which will be a substantial boost to the local economies. Access to broadband will also create secondary employment to existing local business and enterprises which have been struggling to compete in the current digital economy” added Donal Hanrahan, Head of Deployment, NBI.