eir’s gigabit fibre network available in 28 towns nationwide

28 January 2020: eir today announced that its Gigabit Fibre Network is now available in 28 towns across Ireland, with more than 50,000 premises passed already and more homes and businesses being passed each week. Building on from the successful rollout of eir’s rural fibre programme, eir is now extending it's Gigabit Fibre Network, offering customers 1Gb speeds straight to their homes, into more urban centres. The first customers on eir’s new network are already watching TV, playing games and downloading their favourite films at superfast speed.

This represents the first part of the €500 million network investment programme and the rollout will ramp up considerably in the coming months, reaching a further 20 towns by April. Ultimately this ambitious project will stretch to 1.4 million homes and businesses. Once completed, eir’s fibre network will cover 84% of the premises in Ireland with 90% served by fibre to the home.

eir also announced that its 5G network, by far the largest of any operator, has now expanded to 20 cities and towns across the country, covering more than 25% of the population of Ireland out of doors. 5G is also available from eir at Dublin Airport. 5G is enabling eir customers to enjoy unrivalled speed and reliability, with peak speeds over 1Gbps. This is part of the €150 million investment plan to transform eir’s mobile network. eir will continue to invest heavily throughout 2020, with plans to roll out 5G to every major town in Ireland.

eir CEO Carolan Lennon said: "I am delighted to announce that eir’s Gigabit Fibre Network is now available in 28 towns nationwide, with 50,000 premises already enjoying access to superfast broadband and more being added each week. Ultimately our €500 million investment programme will stretch to 1.4 million homes and businesses. Once completed, our fibre network will cover 84% of the premises in Ireland."

Lennon continued, "eir is by far the largest investor in telecoms in Ireland and the IFN is a key part of our €1 billion capital investment programme to build the very best network for our customers. eir is also transforming its mobile network and our expanding 5G rollout will complement on-going upgrade and expansion of our 4G network."

The upgrade and expansion of eir's 4G mobile network is also continuing at pace, to date more than 500 sites have been updated and 4G population coverage now exceeds 98%. Once completed, it will significantly enhance customer experience throughout Ireland, from Malin to Mizen and from Aran to Arklow. eir’s mobile network will achieve 99% 4G geographical coverage once the programme is complete, from 92% today, giving Ireland one of the highest mobile coverage rates of any country in the world with unparalleled rural mobile coverage.

eir’s Gigabit Fibre Network is currently available in:

• Balbriggan 
• Balgriffin 
• Ballybunion 
• Barna 
• Boyle 
• Cahir 
• Carndonagh 
• Carrick-on-Shannon 
• Castletroy 
• Claremorris 
• Clonakilty 
• Collooney 
• Coolock 
• Dunshaughlin 
• Galway 
• Kilcock
• Kilkenny 
• Kilrush 
• Letterkenny 
• Midleton 
• Moate 
• Nenagh 
• Portlaoise 
• Rathkeale 
• Ratoath 
• Rochestown 
• Santry 
• Tallaght 

5G is currently available in: 

• Athlone
• Bray
• Carlow
• Castlebar
• Cork
• Drogheda
• Dublin
• Dundalk
• Ennis
• Galway
• Kilkenny
• Killarney
• Letterkenny
• Limerick
• Naas
• Sligo
• Tralee
• Trim
• Waterford
• Wexford