Surveying for the National Broadband plan has begun this week in the Comeragh area of Waterford.
There are 15,000 premises in the Intervention Area (IA) in the county, which includes homes, farms, commercial businesses and schools, which is around 24% of all premises in Waterford.
Jack Doyle, the local authority's broadband officer, has been updating Waterford councillors on the rollout at council meetings this month.
He said the target for this year is to connect around 5,500 premises. The surveying of the city area is now complete, and in April it's expected the build phase will start, which will last around 18months and connect over six thousand premises.
Members of the public can check if their home is in an IA by consulting the www.nbi.ie and inputting their postcode.
According to the company, NBI crews have made substantial progress in Waterford, where the following areas are being surveyed: Portlaw, Knockavalla, Millvale, Rathgormuck, Ballynob, Clonea, Moonminane, Mothel, Crehana, Fenoagh, Ashtown, Orchardstown and Salaheen.
In November 2020, NBI crews commenced surveying works for townlands outside Waterford City. These initial works pave the way for the next stage of deploying fibre on poles/ducts and includes the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of sub duct into existing ducts, for the fibre to be installed.
Broadband Connection Points (BCPs)
In advance of the fibre to the home roll out, the NBP provides for the delivery of BCPs nationwide. These facilities - which include sports clubs, community centres and tourist sites – will provide free public access to high speed internet in the rollout area. Locations of Broadband Connection Points in county Waterford will include Modeligo Community Hall, Mount Melleray Community Hall, Ballysaggart Community Centre, and Knockanore Community Centre.Progress on the ground
NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said the company was pleased with the progress being made: “We started physical work on the ground in January 2020 and despite the challenging environment caused by Covid-19, we’ve grown and mobilised the team to have over 800 people working on the project across all 26 counties and making good progress. We are acutely aware that people want access to high-speed broadband as soon as possible, and our goal is to deliver that.
“Survey designs are an important part of mapping out how every home and business will be connected, and these will provide the blueprint for how the NBI fibre is laid. The BCPs are also a key milestone in delivering access to high-speed internet in the Intervention Area, and we’re delighted to see these being connected for access – internally and externally - right across the county.”
NBI’s website www.nbi.ie has a search tool to enable the public to check whether their premises is within the rollout area, and to show indicative dates for areas being surveyed. NBI’s contact centre can be reached at 0818 624 624 (lo-call) or [email protected]
In advance of the fibre to the home roll out, the NBP provides for the delivery of BCPs nationwide. These facilities - which include sports clubs, community centres and tourist sites – will provide free public access to high speed internet in the rollout area. Locations of Broadband Connection Points in county Waterford will include Modeligo Community Hall, Mount Melleray Community Hall, Ballysaggart Community Centre, and Knockanore Community Centre.Progress on the ground
NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick said the company was pleased with the progress being made: “We started physical work on the ground in January 2020 and despite the challenging environment caused by Covid-19, we’ve grown and mobilised the team to have over 800 people working on the project across all 26 counties and making good progress. We are acutely aware that people want access to high-speed broadband as soon as possible, and our goal is to deliver that.
“Survey designs are an important part of mapping out how every home and business will be connected, and these will provide the blueprint for how the NBI fibre is laid. The BCPs are also a key milestone in delivering access to high-speed internet in the Intervention Area, and we’re delighted to see these being connected for access – internally and externally - right across the county.”
NBI’s website www.nbi.ie has a search tool to enable the public to check whether their premises is within the rollout area, and to show indicative dates for areas being surveyed. NBI’s contact centre can be reached at 0818 624 624 (lo-call) or [email protected]
