National Broadband Ireland : implementation and progress

eastmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838990#Comment_122838990

Sounds like yeah at much the same stage as us trees all trimmed poles repalced and some rolls off fibre along some poles down the local village. But not due to be connected till year 2026

clohamon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122837413#Comment_122837413

Eircom's overall FTTP target - 1.9M premises - remains the same as it was in 2021. So you'd have to ask how are they spending "another" or "further" or "additional" €500M ? ..or even €200M if as the report says,

The fibre programme accounts for about 40% of total capital expenditure.

A bit sad that Dublin City University are letting themselves be associated with this kind of stuff, but I guess they're all at it.

EarWig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122842305#Comment_122842305

"additional" €500M is just re-announcing existing plans.

CE is flat for years during a time of high inflation and so the pace of the programme has fallen.

ItHurtsWhenIP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838990#Comment_122838990

Well now. The NBI are making a liar out of me ... in a good way.

I hadn't been down to the village during daylight hours for the last couple of days, but I was heading out today for a walk (away from the village, towards Cappamore) and what do I see on the pole that serves my house???

The crew looked like they were working on another pole about 1KM further down the road. I was told by my housemate that they've been on the road for the last couple of days.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122842876#Comment_122842876

Not too long before they start connecting I'd guess.

heavydawson

I see Digiweb are now offering the 2gbps NBI package!

https://digiweb.ie/nbi-fibre-2000/

Special Offer available to new customers and existing customers out of contract at €59.95 per month for 12 months. €69.95 per month thereafter. A €49.00 once off activation applies. Existing customers in contract wishing to upgrade €59.95 per month with free activation. €69.95 per month after 12 months.

That's the same price as their existing 1gb package after 12 months! So for those already on the 1gb package > 12 months, this is basically savings of €10/month for the 1st 12 months after upgrading to 2gbps, then the same price you pay today but double the speed after 12 months.

Tommy Lagahan

Great to see long timers on here from the contract tender days coming close to getting connected (I know a few already have!), hopefully we'll all be sorted soon 😊

Nuphor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122843500#Comment_122843500

Upgraded to this last week with my pre-order. I see the status of my place has gone from pre-order to AVAILABLE_TO_ORDER today on nbi.ie, so I'd guess they'll send me details of an engineer visit/way to book soon now.

pawrick

Been lurking on this and older threads for years (since 2013 ish), finally had gthe guys out installing the poles along the lane to my home, nbi site giving a date of July to September 2025. Date of delivery has been delayed so many times over the years I'm not going to believe it til I'm actullay connected + now my mobile internet has come on so far from those early days I actually dont need it as much tbh.

The Cush

Deleted

Blazer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122842876#Comment_122842876

any chance its the pallas road? my parents are out that way and at this stage they'll be dead before they ever get the fibre upgrade from the lousy 1.5 meg they're on at the moment.

ItHurtsWhenIP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122847342#Comment_122847342

Yes. It's the road heading south out of Rearcross.

Put your parents eircode in here and it should tell you when they are scheduled:

https://nbi.ie/map/

KluntishBlastardo

I appreciate I'm coming at this late, but can someone provide some background on how the division of areas between Open Eir vs NBI was created?

I'm asking because in the case of my mother in law's house, I can see that all of her neighbors on one side have been hooked up with Open Eir for a good amount of time already, while her and her neighbors on the other side are NBI but will need to wait until sometime 2026 to be hooked up. Looking at the NBI map the division between the two seems to be quite haphazard in terms of which are NBI and which are not. There's even an estate I can see nearby where some random houses are NBI but the others are not (presumably OpenEir instead). In terms of running Fibre Optic, it makes no sense to me.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122849566#Comment_122849566

During the National Broadband Plan intervention area mapping process by the Department of Communications, prior to the tender award, the commercial operators OpenEir and Siro were asked where they would be rolling out their fibre.

Those premises not included in the commercial rollouts were added to the NBP intervention area map.

OpenEir started their Rural Fibre Rollout prior to the NBP award, picking the quick and easy areas to fibre, the so called low hanging fruit, leaving the difficult rural areas to the NBP.

This often meant leaving a few houses near the end of a fibre run out of their rollout to be picked up later by NBI.

In our case it was 8 houses over a 750m run from the last OpenEir distribution point. First commercial connections on the road were around November 2018, NBI are due here in 2026, a gap of 7 to 8 years.

The commercial rollout also left gaps in local towns and villages. Looking at the NBI map for my local village there are odd houses in estates that are to be connected by NBI.

Since the IA map was compiled there are places around the country where OpenEir has encroached into the NBP intervention area and commercial areas where they may not get to for years, if at all, that might require an urban NBP.

KluntishBlastardo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122850925#Comment_122850925

I should have known that it was pretty much down to the lazyness of Eir that would have caused this. The immediate neighbors to my mother in laws house that have Eir are very close to the road. My mother in law and the neighbor directly across the road from her have longer driveways and the house is set back a good bit further from the road. Neighbors on the other side are again close to the road. So Eir got to that my MIL's, saw the distance to both houses from the road, decided it was too much trouble and just stopped. Classic Eir.

The Cush

NBP rollout could slip into 2027

https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/companies/arid-41518472.html

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2024/1118/1481207-nbp-network-will-reach-420-000-premises-by-end-of-2025/

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122851424#Comment_122851424

Eamon Ryan mentioned that earlier in the year:

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-05-28/106/#spk_376

NBII commenced rollout of the NBP in January 2020 and deployment of the network is contracted
to conclude by October 2027

^^ From the Interim Report:

https://assets.gov.ie/309174/663e2bb3-57ef-4cdb-95ca-82cf03030f96.pdf

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122851424#Comment_122851424

Re the Examiner article, 420k connections by the end of next year. That would be excellent but of course not realistic.

Misunderstanding of connection vs. premises passed by the journalist

Gooser14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122851312#Comment_122851312

I don't think it was laziness on the part of open Eir. I think it was done on purpose in the hope that it would sway the government to award them (open Eir) the NBI contract.

hawkwing

Got connected this evening, 500mb but got 536/55mb earlier. A big step up from 6mb/1mb this morning—and today was a good day! Obviously noticing the speed difference straight away,tidy job,well happy.

Gooser14

Tree cutting being carried out by NBI contractors in Fiddane Newport area today. ComReg website showing Q4 2026 as the planned NBI broadband connection availability.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122859368#Comment_122859368

I'm also in the Newport DA, Murroe to be specific. Eir and NBI pole work done here recently. Good to see hedge cutting being done.

Fibre rollout next.

Gooser14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122859628#Comment_122859628

I'm fortunate in that we already have FTTH via the open eir network but there are several houses in our immediate area awaiting NBI rollout.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122859680#Comment_122859680

OpenEir came within 750m of us back in 2018, now seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

ItHurtsWhenIP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122859766#Comment_122859766

Fixed that for you! 😋

OpenEir came within 750m of us back in 2018, now seeing light at the end of the tunnel cable.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122859883#Comment_122859883

Excellent

lukin

Telegraph poles being replaced and hedges being trimmed not far from me. Comreg has my eircode as being connected in Q4 2026. Only two years so 🙄.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861478#Comment_122861478

Similar here? Can't see why they would be triming hedges and putting in poles 2 years ahead?

Sponsorgate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861500#Comment_122861500

They started trimming hedges & replacing poles in January 2024 in my area & I am due to be connected the end of this month. Approx 10 months give or take

The Cush

We're also 2026, but no specific quarter in 2026. NBI site is indicating late 2025 for first connections in the DA.

Poles done and hedge cutting underway.

I guess if the rollout proceeds faster than planned the dates will change accordingly.

lukin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861587#Comment_122861587

Go on to

https://www.comreg.ie/broadbandchecker

Hover over the text underneath "Network Status" (it will probably say "Planned"). The quarter and year will appear then.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861778#Comment_122861778

Says q4 2026 for me, updated June last. Data from NBI no doubt.

The NBI website should be the most up to date I'd guess.

dollylama

A bit off topic but has anyone any insight on the NBI PoP's? Have they stuck with their original plan of 194 "local exchanges" across the deployment areas or are they just pulling back to the nearest eir box, renting eir backhaul out to Dublin or their regional PoP?

Some of the deployment areas show huge ground to cover from the NBI local exchange as originally mapped so I'm curious have they stayed with this plan or are they terminating deeper into the DA's?

SimonKelley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122863478#Comment_122863478

They've certainly built a central exchange that the fibres run back to in this locality; it's a plastic cabin in the corner of the GAA ground in Aughrim. My understanding of the architecture is that a dozen or so of these are connected in a fibre ring and one or two of them then have backhaul to Dublin and form the regional PoP. I'm not clear what that regional PoP is for, but presumably interconnecting to NBI there rather then in Dublin is attractive for small regional ISPs that want to server just the local market and for geographically big players like Eir and Virgin who can provide their own backhaul cheaper than renting it from NBI.

dollylama

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122863531#Comment_122863531

It's an old document but this was their original plan so I'm just curious how religiously they've stuck to this arrangement

https://nbi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/National-Broadband-Plan-Project-Overview-Website-25.02.21.pdf

The Cush

They have 100 Gbps fibre-rings or metro-rings (Metro Network) connecting local exchanges to the regional PoH (points of handover). The loop means there is built-in redundancy if any part of the loop goes down.

Exchanges are enet and eir.

Backhaul from the regional PoHs to two data centres in Dublin is via enet's core fibre network (enet operates the State owned Metropolitan Area Network – or MANs).

Retail ISPs can interconnect at a PoH or a Dublin data centre

This was the original architecture so I assume it won't have changed in any major way since.

dollylama

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122863681#Comment_122863681

Ah okay… so some eir exchanges are in the mix too. Makes sense I suppose as their spread and number would be better suited to serving far flung rural pockets

Eir have done quite well from this project it would seem despite being passed over. I assume NBI are running their own backhaul out of eir's exchanges to keep with the redundant loop topology

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122863796#Comment_122863796

I would guess it's eir exchanges in most rural areas. No point building duplicate infrastructure to service a small number of NBI premises.

The only infrastructure they seem to be duplicating is the actual fibre, backhaul and exchange to customer.

Eir are doing very well from the arrangement, pole and duct rental, exchange space, etc.

Sponsorgate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122838216#Comment_122838216

TLI connecting my cable to DP this morning

.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122621815#Comment_122621815

Just decided to quote myself from over 2 months ago, as I'm disappointed by the lack of progress since I saw the guys installing the overhead cabling mid Sept.

Haven't seen any progress since. So looks like before Xmas is a non-starter now.

Sponsorgate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122864881#Comment_122864881

What does it say on NBI website when you enter your eircode? Any sign of distribution point on a pole nearby?

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122864927#Comment_122864927

NBI website saying Oct - Dec 2025, which has actually been moved back, as it used to say July 2025.

It says my nearest broadband connection point is 10km away.

I haven't seen anything else added to any poles along the 1.5km stretch of road which runs along the front of my home. What does a distribution point look like?

Sponsorgate

Below is just for reference how my timeline for NBI has gone so far.

NBI Journey below:)

Summer 2023 - Surveying . Can’t remember exactly but met a guy from NBI on the road looking at poles etc. It was circa July/August 2023. He said to me that day it would approx 18months/2 years before I would be connected.

January 2024 -Trimming Hedges

March 2024 - poles erected in area and some replaced also

October 18th - got email from NBI that I could pre-order (It said I would be connected within 45 days of putting pre-order in). Pre-ordered straight away!

Late October - sales agents from providers calling to house with their offers etc

29th October- Guy from TLI came to survey how it would be brought into house. I had it ducted so was able to get it almost to the house but duct was blocked where it entered house. He advised they may to do a bit of digging. If duct was’t a runner , they were willing to worm it up the lawn. Don’t be afraid to ask for this if thats what you would prefer to overhead. Also one pole would need to be erected at road by my entrance.

5th Nov 2024 - Civils came to put cable in duct & brought cable to outside wall. They had to dig last few metres as suspected they would to find where cable was stalling. Did a very clean job.

14th Nov 2024 - my pole erected

Today - 21st Nov 2024 - my fibre cable slung to nearest distribution point

29th Nov - date my provider has scheduled for connection. Fingers crossed

Zith

It has been a long journey but finally I get some fibre of my very own. Installed this week. NBI had been saying H2 2025, but here we are 🙂

Sponsorgate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122865044#Comment_122865044

DP

NIMAN

Ah right, yeah I have seen them over the last few years locally for those roads luckily enough to have fibre.

I don't think there's any of those on any pole along my road yet. Will get another look today.

Once they start to appear along the road, does it mean it's imminent?

ArrBee

Here's a question I haven't seen previously asked….

Is the ONT able to be mounted "outside"?
I'm toying with the idea of mounting it in the ESB box where the phone ducting comes in as a plan B.

Plan A would be to feed the fibre up from there into the roof space and terminate in the comms cupboard.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122818127#Comment_122818127

Thank feck that sanity prevailed in the end and the 5G option lost out.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122865212#Comment_122865212

The question has been asked here previously but the answer is no, the unit isn't moisture/damp proof.

Running the cable into the attic is the better idea, and if you could have a pull rope/cord in place, this makes it easier for the installer on the day.

My brother has already done this, maybe last year and his rollout date is 2026

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122865206#Comment_122865206

Possibly pre-order stage.

Sometimes the fibre cable has yet to be connected at the exchange, the final part of the rollout before going RFO, ready for order.