Telecommunications company eir has announced that it has passed one million homes and businesses across Ireland with its new high-speed fibre-to-the-home (FFTH) network.
Eir has committed to rolling out its gigabit broadband network to 1.9 million front doors, or 84% of homes and businesses in Ireland, by the end of 2026.
It is expected that National Broadband Ireland will deliver fibre connections to the remaining 16% of premises in the country by 2028, resulting in total fibre coverage before the end of the decade.
Measured by Eurostat as the eighth most fibre connected country in the EU last year, eir said today's announcement will propel Ireland further up the league table to sit amongst the best countries in the world for high-speed internet access.
"This is a major breakthrough for Ireland to become a top digital nation and it is in large part due to the efforts of our incredible teams who have worked tirelessly, in all conditions, to get this vital project done and connect homes and businesses for a better Ireland," said Oliver Loomes, eir's chief executive.
The rollout will be completed two years ahead of the Government's target to achieve nationwide high-speed broadband coverage of speeds in excess of 1,000 MB per second.
Eir's announcement was made at an event today attended by Eamon Ryan, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications who congratulated the company on reaching the one million homes and businesses milestone.
"The Government commitment to providing high-speed broadband to every premises in Ireland by 2028 is well on schedule," Mr Ryan said.
"The National Broadband Plan is designed to reach the hardest to reach places. In order to ensure nationwide connectivity, we see that it works best in partnership with the commercial sector," he added.
Eir hit the headlines last year when it emerged that a large amount of money was being paid back in dividends to its French based shareholder.
When asked if that money leaving the company will mean there is less to invest in things like broadband, Mr Loomes said that is not the case.
"Today's news is proof that their shareholder is investing significantly in Ireland.
"They’ve invested one billion into the one million homes that we’re announcing today – and then another billion over the next four years to take our rollout programme to 1.9 million homes," he said.
Eir recently sold off some of its fibre network, but Mr Loomes insisted that this will not pose any issues when it comes to ownership and investment.
"We own the network and we retain control of the network," he said.
"That deal enabled us to accelerate our rollout from 200,000 homes per annum, to 250,000 homes per annum.
"It means that we will finish our rollout by 2026, not 2027. That is a year ahead of our own targets and two years ahead of the National Digital Strategy - so it was a good move and it makes a real difference to homes across Ireland," he said.
Eir was criticised during the pandemic for its poor customer care.
When asked if those issues had been resolved, Mr Loomes said their customer care has been "transformed".
"I am aware that there were issues historically but right now we're answering calls within three minutes," he said.
"In fact in January that time was just over two minutes," he added.
He said they have opened a fourth care centre in Waterford, alongside Sligo, Cork and Limerick.
"Our customer complaints to Com Reg are the lowest ever," he added.
