Andorra will be totally fibre optic for phones, internet and TV from 30.6.2016.

Impetus

Copper cables and digital telephone exchanges are being removed all over Andorra - pop 100k. A friend of mine who was in her 90s died recently. At her age she didn't use the internet (aside from mobile smart phone). Her executor received an email from Telecom Andorra to advise him that she was the last household in the area with a copper pair phone service, and they wanted an appointment to come and remove her copper pair phone line and replace it with fiber optic. She lived up in the mountains in what is a very rural country - about 9km from the local telephone exchange. The monthly subscription for a fiber optic phone only connection is under EUR 5. A typical villa in Andorra is like being far up in the Wicklow mountains (1'200 to 2000 + m altitude, with windy roads that add to the connection distance.

Telecom Andorra took the decision that they wanted to only maintain one network about five years ago, and started a programme of removing old digital exchanges and copper wiring. Fibre is a lower maintenance cost solution, and has a long reach in rural areas. It carries phone, internet, video on demand, and traditional cable TV services. Should this lady's successors decide to run a business from her villa, Andorra Telecom could install say 20 phone channels, and gigabit internet - or whatever speed is required, using the fiber connection in situ as the carrier. 100% fiber optic is a no-brainer (ie FTTP). Unaffected by weather - lightening and flooding, and the basic platform can be expanded to any customer's needs.

Eir is wasting money trying to keep two networks running (IP and PSTN/ISDN) using fiber as a marketing term. It is not fiber unless it is FTTP. A chain is as strong as its weakest link, etc.

https://www.andorratelecom.ad/web/guest/home

emaherx

I think you will find that Eir will have this as their goal also, but it will take much longer. Andorra is only 467.6 km² where as Ireland is 84,421 km².
Andorra has a rural population of less than 5000 people and Ireland has a rural population of about 1.7 million people.


http://www.tradingeconomics.com/andorra/population-density-people-per-sq-km-wb-data.html


http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland/population-density-people-per-sq-km-wb-data.html

LeinsterDub

Andorra is a very rich country with a very small area. Makes for the best of infrastructure.

ED E

But Ireland is the OPs favorite target to deride, would you deny him that?