National Broadband Ireland : implementation and progress

Glaceon

Saw my first NBI install yesterday. North Dublin, just south of Balbriggan. There was no easy access to the nearest drop point so they ended up running from one further away, about 130 metres. But it worked. Went from 6Mb ADSL to gigabit fibre. Never thought I'd see those sort of speeds out there.

Donutz

Alltec working for NBI are laying fibre in the underground ducts in our estate today. Website is still saying we won't be connected until the first half of 2024 but the guys laying the fibre reckon its gonna be in the next few months.

I won't believe it though until it actually happens.

dashoonage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119770232#Comment_119770232

Thanks. Hasnt been a sign of any work around here since the cut the hedges back in the spring which have since gown over again :P

clohamon

Denis Naughten TD re-cycles his idea for re-cycling FWA gear as an interim measure while awaiting NBI. Asserts NBP completion as at end of 2027.

"https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2022-10-20a.245#g271"

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)

I want to see the wireless equipment that is being taken out of some 30,000 homes over the coming year being used to connect families in more isolated areas to a wireless broadband service. To allow this to happen, councils and State agencies need to provide sites to these wireless operators so they can install transmitters to distribute the wireless broadband services. Because the extension of these services will have a short life span, up to the end of 2027, when the national broadband plan will be completed, these shites - sites - should be provided rent-free by councils and State agencies, in a proactive measure to reach out to the most isolated communities across the country.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)

I will look at that proposal and we will give it real consideration. The story of broadband in this country is not just about the national broadband plan. There is real progress across the country, within those areas and without. We have major investment by Eir, Virgin Media, Siro and other operators, as well as the national broadband plan, which is seeing competition, lower prices, higher speeds and better services. The strategy that works in broadband involves working collectively with industry, being flexible and innovating. That is what we need to do.

I will bring that idea back to the Department and we will see if that can be part of the growing success story. Our broadband statistics, on any analysis or European league table, show us rising rapidly and that will be good for Irish people.

heavydawson

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/1027/1331631-virgin-media-vodafone-broadband-deal/

So Virgin are now a wholesaler!

Virgin Media Ireland and Vodafone Ireland have agreed a wholesale network access deal.

The agreement will see Vodafone customers being given access to fixed-line broadband services using Virgin Media's fibre broadband network.

The Virgin Media network passes 1 million premises across Ireland with broadband speeds of 1Gbps (gigabits per second).

Virgin Media Ireland said it is the first time it has provided network access opportunities to other operators.

"Our entry into the wholesale market will support more competition while improving service delivery for consumers, businesses and communities across Ireland," said Tony Hanway, Chief Executive of Virgin Media Ireland.

Vodafone said the new partnership was a demonstration of its continued focus on its network investment strategy.

"Our new broadband partnership with Virgin Media means Vodafone customers will be able to avail of their Fibre to the Premise network, as they continue to upgrade to fibre around the country," said Amanda Nelson, CEO of Vodafone Ireland.

So now we've got Virgin (in a limited capacity), OpenEir, Siro and NBI.

Quin_Dub

My location has just gone to "Available for pre-order" today , having been showing Jan-Mar 2023 up to now.

Am I reasonable to assume that moving to pre-order now means that they are at least on target for that timescale and possibly the earlier part of that 3 month window?

Update -

Just spoke to Digi-web about pre-order and they told me the system is showing a December timescale for install availability which is great.

On the downside , they also told me that that install had been flagged as a "complex" one in the system and likely to take more than one day to complete.

Bit surprised about that to be honest - The pole with the cabling is at the bottom of my driveway and I have ducting running from the bottom of that pole up my driveway and into a connection box at the side of the house.

Having read some of the posts here I would have thought it would be a fairly straight-forward job , but perhaps not.

joe123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119800419#Comment_119800419

A shame that Virgin and Siro have zero interest in operating outside of city's and big towns.

They'd rather duplicate efforts where ftth is already available vs actually work to roll out in other areas.

trant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119800759#Comment_119800759

Mine was listed as complex too, but as in your case we had ducting in place and everything was done in a day.

I would mention this when you get the call to confirm your appointment, as the first crew that arrive will likely be there to dig holes and place ducting, and you probably won't need them.

In my case I let them know when they arrived and the second crew came later that day to complete the actual installation.

dashoonage

So build work started today so i better get my ass moving and get sorted.

My duct to the road is roped so hopefully that will be ok. I need to run a bit of internal ducting so its ready to go. Just wondering what mm i need, would 20mm suffice ?

Agent Avenger

When I made our order with Pure Telecom I went with the 1gb, was only getting 500mb on installation though. Eventually Pure worked out that they had put the order through at the incorrect speed and have been sending correspondence to nbi to up it to 1gb but have heard nothing back. I rang nbi yesterday and they said pure should be able to switch the speed themselves but I’ve talked to several people at pure and they say they can’t change it, nbi has to do it. This has been going on for weeks and j don’t know who to believe at this stage.

oscarBravo

Changing speed is something the RSP (Pure in this case) can do. It takes less than a minute through NBI's Service Provider Portal.

wassie

Put the heat on Pure - they are the retail provider and with whom you have a contract with. Whilst they are technically correct, they are the ones who messed up. If they cant get it sorted, then you would be within your rights to cancel and go to another provider.

Jjjjjjjjbarry

Hi, I have an install date now narrowed down to a 6 month window in 2024.

Do you think this is more likely to get pushed out than pulled forward? Considering getting a 2 year contract with 3 for 5G.

Just wondering what everyone's experience is? My install dates have been pushed out every year so I'm presuming this will too. However, this is the first time it's been narrowed down to 6 months. It's now in build phase.

Agent Avenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119805332#Comment_119805332

Thanks for confirming what nbi have said, I wasn’t sure who to believe. I’ll get onto them again after the weekend, if they can’t solve it by the end of next week might be time to change provider even though I’ll be breaking the contract, they can’t seem to fulfil the contract in the first place!

tampler

Our area finally got NBI enabled. We had KN out for 15 minutes today to assess the work that has to be done. Our house is awkward in that it has a long driveway, and is built on a hill, and surrounded by fairly tall trees with quite a few branches, both in front of the house and on both sides of the driveway.

As expected, we are going to have to cut some of the branches, as they will interfere with the cable coming from the road, due to the fact that we have two telephone poles along our driveway - One at the start, and another about halfway down. The good news is that the Engineer suggested adding a new pole in the middle of the field in front of our house (No worries here, it's our land), meaning we skip going along the driveway, and replacing two other poles - one at the start, and one at the end, as they are really not fit for purpose (they would be about 30 - 40 years old at this stage). If we do this route, the only branches and trees we have to clear out is a small corner in front of the house, which is a lot better than doing an entire driveway worth, as well as all along the front of the house.

Problem is I completely forgot to ask about the cost of this. Does anyone have any idea how much they would charge for 3 new poles? I will have to get a cherry picker and someone to safely cut down the branches, as well as get an electrician to put in a power outlet in the kitchen where those boxes will be (The joys of living in a badly designed 40-year-old house that has bugger all outlets available....) so just want to try and work out the total for everything.

Regardless, I'm happy things are finally moving along. Been waiting years for this, so I don't mind waiting an extra month or so to sort out stuff beforehand.

The Cush

Installation costs are covered by the government subsidy up to €5,000.

Iirc a telecom pole costs about €600

Pious14

Finally my area is available for pre order. Have had a Vodafone salesman to my door already with a 3/4 week timescale for install, his thoughts. Not much in price difference between them and sky.

Any thoughts on best provider. Service, cost and router etc. assume service will be the same as off the same line etc

terrarev

The best price I've seen is Sky broadband via onebigswitch.ie

It's €30p/m for the 500MB connection on a 12 month contract and no connection fee. I don't know how good or bad they are though.

clohamon

There’s another two years for Dr Lillington to collect on her prediction but seeing as it’s November 3rd.

snapper365

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825732#Comment_119825732

Sky are grand for fibre with NBI. We had them for a year and only switched as their best renewal offer was 45pm and VF were offering 35pm.

We've never had to contact them about the broadband service (same with VF tbf) so I don't see service levels as being a big differentiator between suppliers.

In terms of price, 30pm for 500Mb is a great offer, I can't imagine it being bettered.

The only slight negative is that the Sky router is poorly designed - it topples over a lot! The VF one is much more stable. That said, in terms of how well they work technically, I can't really comment because we use a mesh system for WiFi.

Gunner3629

I see Eir have reduced their NBI offer (1Gb / 24 month contract) from 49.99 to 44.99 in recent days. It’s also interesting they don’t offer anything less than 1Gb / 24 month contract.

clohamon

Following on from his previous warning, Minister Smyth seems to be saying that USP (Universal Service Provider) designation would not include compensation for providers to fill in their own cherrypicked fibre roll-outs. Not clear from what date this warning would be effective without a formal ComReg decision on gigabit USO.

As commercial operators continue to build new gigabit infrastructure and upgrade their existing networks, it is expected is that they will design these networks to ensure that no premises is stranded and therefore not able to connect to the network. Any future Universal Service Obligation will not compensate inefficient network designs which are to the detriment of end users and could potentially create a digital divide.

https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2022-10-25a.290#g292.r

wassie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825732#Comment_119825732

Thanks for the heads up.

I had signed to Vodafone @€35/month for 12 months via door salesman as NBI was now open for pre-orders in our area.

Rang VF back to cancel my pre-order (difficult enough as I didnt have an reference number provided in their welcome email and the automated phone service wont let you progress with out it). Ended up going through the sales agents number who was able to redirect me to the VF dept.

No charges for cancelling a pre-order as there is no service until installation occurs (and one wasnt scheduled either which helps).

Went with the Onebigswitch offer instead for Sky @€30/month - online process was easy enough and even got to select an installation slot within 2 weeks of signing up.

Speak Now

How long are people waiting for KN to connect after you sign up with your chosen ISP.

wassie

You should contact your Retail Service Provider to confirm if they have appointment scheduled. You can tell ask them if you want a preferred date (they generally have either 8-12 or 12-4 window on any given day) and they place this request with the NBI (KSN as installer)

waxmelts2000

IMG_8700.PNG

IMG_8702.PNG

So happy with the speeds, having had poor broadband for years. Very efficient service with KNCircet.

I Went with the VF 500 mbs E35 monthly and no installation fee 12 month contract

NBAiii

Premises passed by deployment area as of the 1st of November:

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858025#Comment_119858025

What's going on with those final 2-3% in almost every DA? I'm in the Tipp DA which went live in March, but there's still ~2% of premises not passed. Similar numbers in the other DAs. Are these locations that are going to be fixed with non-Fibre solutions?

snapper365

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119860670#Comment_119860670

I was wondering the same. Imagine being one of the 3 premises in the Cavan DA that's not been passed, you'd be raging!

I'm in the Carrigaline DA which was the first in the country to go live with connections. That was nearly 2 years ago and I've been connected for well over a year, yet there's still 400 premises in the DA that haven't been passed. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw an NBI van around the area, so I assume they've all moved on. That suggests the non-passed houses will have to wait for some other solution.

Stormhawk88

Got the email from NBI that my DA was available for pre-order. Ordered with Vodafone and waiting for the email to confirm the order. Less than 12 months between initial tree cutting and pre order. Hoping to get an install date from December on.