Ennis is set to become Ireland’s latest Gigabit Town with a 100% fibre-optic gigabit broadband network.
Minister of State for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen T.D. today announced that residents and businesses in Ennis will now be able to avail of SIRO’s Gigabit connectivity (1,000Mbps) which is three times faster than the best service available in Dublin and ten times more powerful than the fastest average internet speed in Ireland.
SIRO’s Fibre-to-the-Building technology is recognised as the gold standard for broadband connectivity internationally and is 100% fibre-optic, with no copper at any point to slow it down. This means that the internet experience of Ennis will be transformed, catapulting the town into the international leagues for broadband connectivity creating a platform for future economic development in the region.
Speaking at the announcement in Ennis, Minister Breen said: “This announcement is good news for Ennis and means that businesses in the town are on a level playing field with those in our main cities – with broadband speeds on a par with those found in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
As we have already seen, the Mid West has the fastest growing employment rate in Ireland, and I am confident that faster broadband for Clare’s county town will help to propel this momentum further. The Gigabit connectivity delivered to Ennis by SIRO will help build upon this success by attracting more investment to Ennis, as well as giving our entrepreneurs the opportunity to establish their businesses and encourage others into the world of entrepreneurship.”
Stephen O’Connor, SIRO Director of Corporate Affairs, added: “Gigabit connectivity will be as transformative for Ennis as the rollout of electricity in the town. Broadband is at the heart of everything in everyday life, whether it’s streaming a movie or selling a product to someone from the opposite corner of the globe. By having the same Gigabit connectivity as a city like Tokyo, it means that the people of Ennis will be able to experience the latest advancements in areas like online education and entrepreneurs will be able to bring their ideas to life as they will have access to the gold standard in broadband.”
Using the existing ESB network, SIRO is delivered by fibre optic cables all the way to the building. This technology, known as Fibre-to-the-Building, has no copper connections at any point to slow down the network and delivers 1 Gigabit download and upload speeds.
For context, when downloading a standard high definition film (4 Gigabytes) with a 10 Mbps connection, the average download time is an hour – with SIRO it takes approximately 30 seconds.