Broadband operator Siro is targeting businesses in 600 business and retail parks across Ireland as part of a push to extend access to full fibre broadband.
The company said thousands of business premises in the parks could benefit from fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections, with business parks a particular focus because some companies remain reliant on older copper-based broadband networks.
Siro has recently completed full fibre network rollouts in Dublin’s Sandyford Business District and Greenogue Business Park in Rathcoole, with work continuing in several other locations.
ComReg data published in June showed that 13% of businesses were using FTTP broadband, despite full fibre being available to 86% of premises nationally.
Siro said poor connectivity could affect employee productivity and collaboration, customer service and the adoption of technologies including cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
The operator said businesses were not always aware that full fibre was already available in their business or retail park.
It has launched an online search tool covering more than 600 business and retail parks, allowing businesses, IT consultants, property managers, landlords and estate agents to check whether the Siro network is available.
Siro said it was the first broadband operator in Ireland to offer such a service.
The company is targeting businesses ranging from SMEs to multinational companies. Its business broadband products currently offer symmetrical speeds of up to 10Gbps, while the network has been designed to support speeds of up to 25Gbps as demand increases.
Aoife O’Reilly, head of enterprise at Siro, said poor broadband connectivity could affect business productivity and growth.
“For some businesses, access to fibre-to-the-premises broadband in their location has been a problem. Fibre broadband deserts, areas where fibre broadband networks have yet to reach, have been an issue, and particularly so within business and retail parks,” O’Reilly said.
She added: “Siro’s focus on building our network to businesses within these parks aims to address this deficiency by ensuring these key centres of economic activity have access to high quality and future-proofed fibre broadband.”
Greenogue Business Park manager Sean McCarthy said connectivity had become an essential business resource for companies operating at the park.
Greenogue Business Park has more than 450 companies and 7,000 employees, according to McCarthy, and includes Amazon, Dyson, McCambridge’s Fine Food and Zeus Packaging among its tenants.
“High quality, fast, reliable and future-ready connectivity is now an essential business resource,” he said.
Patryk Goron
Ltd
