SIRO - ESB/Vodafone Fibre To The Home

redfacedbear

They were having lunch in Boggan's garage on Newtown Road when I spotted them - don't know where they were working though.

KOR101

ED E wrote: »

Are they? They've shown speeds of 1G Symm but indicated several times that its GPON. Unless they plan on mix contention with a 1:1 offering.

All the indications we've seen are that the upload speeds are substantially less than download ones.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=97326749&postcount=2328

KOR101

From today's ESB Annual report.

It lists one 2025 strategic objective in relation to 'Emerging Business'. SIRO is listed as one of these, and then the 2025 objective is.

Exploit new investment opportunities and and significantly increase ESB International external income

Earlier, they say about SIRO.

This is the first deployment of its kind in Europe.

Elsewhere it identifies one risk to it's business.

Failure to respond to disruptive market / technology developments could result in the loss of significant market share in both retail and wholesale markets, having an adverse effect on profitability, challenging ESB's delivery of its strategic goal of sustainable innovation and undermining ESB's reputation as a leading Irish technology / engineering company.

And, one of the responses to this risk materialising.

Identifying external collaboration opportunities through joint ventures e.g. Kingspan ESB, SIRO

There is also this about SIRO reducing electricity costs.

Customer Value
The Network Access Agreement between ESB and SIRO (ESB's joint venture with Vodafone, for the roll-out of fibre broadband to customers across Ireland using the distribution network) came into effect during 2015. This agreement allows SIRO to deploy fibre infrastructure on certain ESB Networks’ assets in return for an access fee, which in turn reduces charges to electricity customers. Using the network in this innovative way demonstrates ESB Networks’ commitment to delivering best value for electricity customers, while maintaining the rights to primacy of network for electricity purposes.

And the money spent.

Nollog

Thanks Peader, looks like it worked.
http://i.imgur.com/cddURMQ.jpg

I came home to this parked outside my apartment building.
(not doing anything, I guess a KN guy lives here.)

ED E

/\/ollog wrote: »

Thanks Peader, looks like it worked.
http://i.imgur.com/cddURMQ.jpg

I came home to this parked outside my apartment building.
(not doing anything, I guess a KN guy lives here.)

Well aint that interesting. Working for both sides.

bk

ED E wrote: »

Well aint that interesting. Working for both sides.

UPC/Virgin too and pretty much everyone in the Irish telecoms industry over the years (ESB Telecoms, BT, Vodafone, etc.).

Basically any major network work done in Ireland, they will usually be heavily involved in.

ED E

NTL/UPC acquired the teams from Sierra at one point if my memory serves me, so they were keeping things in house for a long time.

Flibbles

"We're delighted to announce that Letterkenny is the first SIRO-powered town of 2016 and will receive one gigabit connectivity. The first premises will be available from April through Vodafone LightSpeed Broadband, powered by SIRO."

Woo!

JohnC.

I notice they also say they will "light up" an further 10 towns this year, starting with Wexford and Drogheda. A whole 10 this year. Really spoiling us there.

Nollog

I noticed there's a lot of work around mr. chippie yep. Looks like they're going out of town though, sad for me.

(Letterkenny)

Oat23

Flibbles wrote: »

"We're delighted to announce that Letterkenny is the first SIRO-powered town of 2016 and will receive one gigabit connectivity. The first premises will be available from April through Vodafone LightSpeed Broadband, powered by SIRO."

Woo!

When I saw the email alert on my phone titled "SIRO roll-out update!" I got really excited, then it says bloody Letterkenny! Thought I signed up for an alert for when it was in Sligo only, not any town .

cunnijo

JohnC. wrote: »

I notice they also say they will "light up" an further 10 towns this year, starting with Wexford and Drogheda. A whole 10 this year. Really spoiling us there.

So they claim they will light up 10 additional towns this year. It will be interesting to see if these 10 towns will be added to the ones already announced on the launch date last year. The same 10 towns that were supposed to be offered Gigabit speeds by last Autumn.

But looking at the rollout update email (which most of us on this forum received) Wexford is one of these 10 additional towns along with Drogheda and 8 others. The odds are that Navan,Westport and Castlebar will also be on that list. If this is the case then there will be only 6 additional towns will get SIRO this year not 10 and the 2018 target for completion of phase 1 will just be a pipe dream. Apart from Drogheda the other 4 areas including Wexford are in the initial first 10 areas announced at launch.

So lets hope that there will be 9 additional towns along with Drogheda announced, but I suspect there will be only 5-6 new ones.

Let's wait and see.

Gonzo

Eir already have 14 towns receiving FTTH, how well serviced with FTTH are these towns?

just realised this isnt the 66 towns Eir thread

KOR101

We all have to be realistic. They are trying to go from trial to mass rollout in one go. There may also be a problem with take-up. What would really drive things is immediate financial payback, which is very unlikely.

Gonzo

KOR101 wrote: »

There may also be a problem with take-up.

For starters Siro are targeting areas with 100meg FTTC widely available so takeup probably won't be the best except for die hard internet fans who want the fastest speeds available.

guil

Gonzo wrote: »

For starters Siro are targeting areas with 100meg FTTC widely available so takeup probably won't be the best except for die hard internet fans who want the fastest speeds available.

How are Siro offering FTTC? I think you're confusing them with Vodafone reselling openeir FTTC.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

"...Siro are targeting areas with 100meg FTTC..."

I presume Gonzo means that SIRO will not be offering FTTC, but targeting areas that have FTTC already available with their own FTTH product.

guil wrote: »

How are Siro offering FTTC? I think you're confusing them with Vodafone reselling openeir FTTC.

Gonzo

Cassidy Hollow Storm wrote: »

"...Siro are targeting areas with 100meg FTTC..."

I presume Gonzo means that SIRO will not be offering FTTC, but targeting areas that have FTTC already available with their own FTTH product.

yep, they are targeting urban areas with widespread FTTC already in place which makes me belief there won't be much of an uptake. The average customer is not gonna switch to a more expensive product when their internet is already very good. Siro should have started what Eir have and reach into areas that have nothing.

cunnijo

One could be very surprised with the uptake in urban areas. With speeds usually getting slower the further away from the cabinet you are and areas within SIRO listed towns where Virgin Media will not cover (I know as I live in such an area). Also with competition prices will drop. And not forgetting Eir's gigabit offering too.

The real test of uptake will come once feedback starts coming from the areas already served by SIRO.

As for SIRO I can't for it to arrive.

guil

Cassidy Hollow Storm wrote: »

"...Siro are targeting areas with 100meg FTTC..."

I presume Gonzo means that SIRO will not be offering FTTC, but targeting areas that have FTTC already available with their own FTTH product.

**facepalm**
Not with it today.

SmallBalls

cunnijo wrote: »

One could be very surprised with the uptake in urban areas. With speeds usually getting slower the further away from the cabinet

Yeah, I'm quite a distance from my cab and my line max's out at around 15-16mb so I'll defo be signing up. Luckily both Siro And Eir have my town included for FTTH so I'm another who can't wait for it to arrive.

unkymo

There was a load of diggers and vans in our housing estate here in Tralee during the week. They were laying pipes and cables for Siro. I asked when it would be ready and they said it should be live in the next few months.

12Phase

I was walking through Carrigaline today (haven't been in years) and noticed the ESB fibre spools up on the poles along the main street.

I sincerely hope they're not going to leave them like that? They look horrific. I could see planning objections if they tried that in my area. They look like car tyres attached to the poles. Big ugly metal frame with fibre reeled around it.

I'm all for FTTH roll out, but they would really need to get the aesthetics right or there will undoubtedly be problems with planning and objections. It's not rocket science. If it's going to be that ugly, they're walking themselves into a major issue with councils, tidy towns committees and others.

I guess ESB has always had a bit of a tradition of taking 'industrial looking' approaches to wiring. Some of their overhead power lines in towns and cities where it's still overhead is really ugly.

As for uptake, the internet's general content keeps demanding more and more bandwidth so, I think you'll see growth for demand for 1Gbit/s+ as time goes on. It's not that long ago that ADSL at 24 mbit/s was considered blazingly fast. Now we'd sneer at it.

I'll post some photos.

Nollog

I believe they need to be spooled like that to function.

12Phase

/\/ollog wrote: »

I believe they need to be spooled like that to function.

Well they're absolutely horrific looking. They're going to have to deuglify them somehow! I know if they rolled out that on my street they'd have major issues with objections.

ED E

Its part of the mains network, objections will fall of deaf ears.

12Phase

ED E wrote: »

Its part of the mains network, objections will fall of deaf ears.

It's not part of the mains network though. It's just attached to it...
Could get interesting from a planning / regulatory point of view if someone were to push it.

I want fibre as much as anyone, but it's just running huge loops like that on poles on a main street of a town is kind of hideous.

At the very least they should underground it. That being said the power lines they're attached to are eyesores too.

ED E

12Phase wrote: »

It's not part of the mains network though. It's just attached to it...
Could get interesting from a planning / regulatory point of view if someone were to push it.

I want fibre as much as anyone, but it's just running huge loops like that on poles on a main street of a town is kind of hideous.

At the very least they should underground it. That being said the power lines they're attached to are eyesores too.

The pole is mains, they dont have to apply to put stuff on it.

The costs associated with placing it underground are much higher and defeats the purpose of them deploying it via the existing LV/HV network.

NIMBY vs Pylons is a constant battle, but services require infrastructure.

Flibbles

ED E wrote: »

The pole is mains, they dont have to apply to put stuff on it.

The costs associated with placing it underground are much higher and defeats the purpose of them deploying it via the existing LV/HV network.

NIMBY vs Pylons is a constant battle, but services require infrastructure.

Don't be ridiculous, it's perfectly reasonable to want services, not be able to see them, not contribute to the cost of them, and expect prices to stay low because they don't look nice. /s

12Phase

Flibbles wrote: »

Don't be ridiculous, it's perfectly reasonable to want services, not be able to see them, not contribute to the cost of them, and expect prices to stay low because they don't look nice. /s

It's reasonable to want services to be installed in a non ugly way.

In most cases bad planning results in ducts bot having been laid when road surfaces were redone etc etc.

I can see no issue with the odd reel here and there but this has to be seen to be believed. I'm not usually that fussed by this kind of thing but they are exceptionally ugly. They literally look like car wheels on the poles. It's a big galvanised steel frame with fibre loosely coiled around and a huge junction device / splice box in the middle about the size of an old fashioned ESB meter.

I mean could they not be merged into part of a street lamp design or even a flower basket hung in the way...