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High-speed broadband provincial coverage as expected by 2016. Source: Dept of Communications

One development that may impact on UPC’s operation is the €450 million joint venture between Vodafone and the ESB that will see the nation’s powerline infrastructure used to deliver fibre connectivity to potentially any premises in Ireland.

A statement from Vodafone and the ESB said their venture would be “proud to play [a] role in delivering on the Minister’s vision to help bridge the digital divide. By drawing on ESB and Vodafone’s heritage of innovation, the joint venture company will provide a new type of connectivity to help deliver a broadband experience that will enable Irish businesses to create the products and services of the future, as well as attracting more FDI to Ireland.”

In other words: this doesn’t change our plans one jot but we’re happy with the timing.

Biggest player
As for eircom, the largest telco in the State which is spending €400 million on upgrading to fibre, it’s a case of ‘we told you so’. Its statement read: “Eircom believes that a fixed line fibre technology connected to every home and business should be the lead infrastructure to serve customers identified through this mapping exercise.

“This will ensure that the investment made by the Government will be future proofed, support the growth in data demands and ensure the best user experience for those customers within the intervention footprint… No operator is doing more than eircom to provide access to superfast broadband.”

In other words: we’re doing this anyway, now let us get on with it.

There are plenty of other initiatives going on around the country worth a mention as well. Enet’s ‘fibre towns’ initiative and fibre-to-the-business already offer speeds up to 250Mb/s in towns like Claremorris, Loughrea, Ardee and Kilkenny. Three has been silent so far, despite its recent acquisition of O2 and 4G wireless offering claiming speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G. Wireless providers Imagine and Ripplecom have also stayed below the parapet and with good cause – their top offerings come in at 10Mb/s and 8Mb/s respectively. The newest entrant to the fixed line broadband space, Sky has yet to issue an opinion, as well. Maybe the confidence in its TV offering trumps concerns about meeting the EU requirement – which its 24Mb/s offerings don’t do.

It’s nice that Government has a plan and a map to show it off with. As before, you should only believe it when you see it – preferably in 4K.

Read More: Blog broadband Niall Kitson