Eircom is investing €20m in a trial to see how consumers and business take to 'ultra fast' fibre broadband. This would allow much faster broadband speeds of up to 150 mega bits per second.
The trial, to take place early next year, will deliver fibre broadband to 10,000 homes and businesses in Sandyford in Co Dublin and in Wexford town.
Eircom is also allowing its competitors access to the technology in the hopes that the trials will lead to them jointly building a fibre based network around the country.
The company aims to assess what it will cost to build the new generation infrastructure, and to understand how customers will interact with it, which services and applications they like and how it changes their habits.
'This investment underlines Eircom's commitment to test new technologies at scale and will help determine the technological requirements and regulatory frameworks that are necessary across the whole country in support of the future economy for Ireland,' commented Eircom's CEO Paul Donovan.
