The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Major blow for rural web plan
THE Government plan to provide high speed broadband access to 90 per cent of the country by 2020 took a major hit last week with the announcement that Siro – the joint venture by ESB and Vodfone – has withdrawn itself from the tendering process for the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
On September 26 – the deadline for corporate submissions as part of the tendering process for the NBP – Siro contacted the Department of Communications to say that it was withdrawing form the procurement process to focus on its own plans to roll-out high speed broadband in 51 Irish towns.
Siro’s withdrawal follows a Government deal with Eir – one of two bidders left in the race to win the NBP contract – to fast-track 300,000 homes in the plan’s original intervention area as part of a €200m investment.
Tralee was one of ten Irish towns to receive broadband during the first phase of SIRO’s nationwide roll-out which began in 2015.
To date Siro broadband has been introduced in 15 Irish towns and it is due to be rolled out ion Killarney in the future.
In April 2017 The ‘Tralee HQ’ business hub – which is home to approximately 20 SMEs and start-ups at its two block campus off Tralee Town Square – became the first such centre in the country to receive free ultra fast broadband as part of Siro’s Gigabit Hub Initiative.
Though Communications Minister Denis Naughten said he did not believe Siro’s withdrawal from the NBP would hinder the plan from rolling out small and medium business lobby group ISME said the news was a “major setback.”
“This is a major blow for the National Broadband Plan. This decision by Siro skews the tendering process, rendering it uncompetitive, and far less likely to deliver quality broadband for rural Ireland. The Minister needs to intervene now,” said ISME spokesperson David Waldron.
“Competition in the delivery of services only works when it is fair competition. The fact that Eir was allowed to cherry-pick a large basket of relatively cheap-to-service customers has negatively skewed the cost base for other competitors,” said ISME.
Siro itself has not made any link between the Government’s deal with Eir and its decision to quit the NBP tendering process.
“Our decision to withdraw from the National Broadband Plan tender has not been taken lightly,” said SIRO CEO Sean Atkinson.
“We will continue with our original plans, focusing on transforming Ireland’s regional towns, putting them on a par for high-speed connectivity with cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong. Siro’s ‘gigabit towns’ will attract investment and job creation, support SMEs, and allow access to new services in education, healthcare and entertainment,” said Mr Atkinson.
Vodafone Ireland CEO Anne O’Leary, said that the company remains focused on spreading fibre broadband services to Irish towns.
“Naturally, we are disappointed that Siro is withdrawing from the National Broadband Plan tender, but our vision of creating a ‘gigabit society’ in Ireland is unaffected as the Siro rollout continues as part of our €450m investment with ESB,” O’Leary said.
“The decision to withdraw was difficult, but it means the company can refocus its attention to building out the Siro network further. With over 100,000 premises due to be passed at the end of the month and the level of sign-ups reaching as high as 20 to 25 per cent in our early-launch towns (which include Tralee), there is clear commercial demand for gigabit connectivity across regional Ireland,” she said.