SIRO - ESB/Vodafone Fibre To The Home

Azhrei

My sister surprised me today by telling me she'd been speaking to an ESB employee about this - apparently this will start happening - as in rolling out to customers - "within the next year or two". Take that for what you will, hopefully it's true - it's a damn sight better than 2020

garroff

Just in time for the general election!!!!

garroff

Friday 25th....Minister makes a BB announcement....is there an election coming?

Remember...all promises made before an election are null and void after an election

MajesticDonkey

That announcement is here, BTW: http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Press+Releases/2014/Major+fibre+build-out+to+rural+Ireland+will+be+cornerstone+of+Government+strategy.htm

monument

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

That announcement is here, BTW: http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Press+Releases/2014/Major+fibre+build-out+to+rural+Ireland+will+be+cornerstone+of+Government+strategy.htm

This is apparently not the same as the ESB fiber to building plan already announced...

https://mobile.twitter.com/adrianweckler/status/459704710258524160

MajesticDonkey

monument wrote: »

This is apparently not the same as the ESB fiber to building plan already announced...

https://mobile.twitter.com/adrianweckler/status/459704710258524160

I know, but the chances of it actually happening at all are fairly slim, as has been the case in the past...i.e. a €2.5 billion government investment in 2009 I believe, and a €2 billion investment in 2012. Neither of which went anywhere.

bk

monument wrote: »

This is apparently not the same as the ESB fiber to building plan already announced...

https://mobile.twitter.com/adrianweckler/status/459704710258524160

Thanks for confirming, I thought that.

So it seems that the ESB/Vodafone JV will cover 500,000 homes in non UPC urban and semi-urban areas.

Then there is this plan for the government to subsidise the rollout of fibre to the remaining 500,000 homes using the ESB network of poles and I would assume using ESB networks staff.

However reading the announcements, the government plan doesn't seem to be FTTH. Certainly 500 million wouldn't be enough for FTTH. While light on details, instead it seems to be a plan to get fibre to pretty much every village in Ireland, but then use copper, fibre or fixes wireless to get to the homes in this area.

So a lot of details to be revealed and studied yet and of course we actually need to see the money being spent. I wouldn't hold my breath, but it maybe good news.

murphaph

bk wrote: »

However reading the announcements, the government plan doesn't seem to be FTTH. Certainly 500 million wouldn't be enough for FTTH. While light on details, instead it seems to be a plan to get fibre to pretty much every village in Ireland, but then use copper, fibre or fixes wireless to get to the homes in this area.

To be honest FTTH is pie in the sky for many years to come. We know that the totally shot infrastructure to all the soviet era blocks in Lithuania were done with FTTH but Ireland's dispersed population makes FTTH uneconomical.

However, FTTC for every village in Ireland is a realistic target that would transform (even more so) the broadband scene in Ireland. VDSL cabinets in every village with a 2km reach out into the surrounding countryside would blow the likes of Germany out of the water. I don't think people fully realise just how big the various upgrades are.

We're looking at a site for a house in a a commuter town about 10km from Berlin and the town has a good population of 11k and all in a compact enough area (no outlying properties, the 11k people all live within a fairly clearly defined circle. VDSL is available in about 20% of the houses and cable broadband in maybe 5%. The rest can get ADSL2+ up to a maximum of 16Mb. My mother living in Newcastle Co. Dublin (4k people maybe and more dispersed) can now order VDSL (since day before yesterday). Ireland is overtaking Germany (and I suspect many other countries in Europe) in matter broadband.

There's also no VDSL above 50/10 in Germany. Telekom has apparently enabled vectoring on a handful of cabinets but even on those they still won't enable profiles beyond 50Mb. Things are really looking up in Ireland in comparison!

Nonoperational

murphaph wrote: »

To be honest FTTH is pie in the sky for many years to come. We know that the totally shot infrastructure to all the soviet era blocks in Lithuania were done with FTTH but Ireland's dispersed population makes FTTH uneconomical.

However, FTTC for every village in Ireland is a realistic target that would transform (even more so) the broadband scene in Ireland. VDSL cabinets in every village with a 2km reach out into the surrounding countryside would blow the likes of Germany out of the water. I don't think people fully realise just how big the various upgrades are.

We're looking at a site for a house in a a commuter town about 10km from Berlin and the town has a good population of 11k and all in a compact enough area (no outlying properties, the 11k people all live within a fairly clearly defined circle. VDSL is available in about 20% of the houses and cable broadband in maybe 5%. The rest can get ADSL2+ up to a maximum of 16Mb. My mother living in Newcastle Co. Dublin (4k people maybe and more dispersed) can now order VDSL (since day before yesterday). Ireland is overtaking Germany (and I suspect many other countries in Europe) in matter broadband.

There's also no VDSL above 50/10 in Germany. Telekom has apparently enabled vectoring on a handful of cabinets but even on those they still won't enable profiles beyond 50Mb. Things are really looking up in Ireland in comparison!

Careful now with sensible posts like that. A lot of people like to shout and roar about how backward we are and how crappy 100Mbit VDSL is.

Strawberry HillBilly

Hopefully this will happen, especially as the village I live in has been listed

R P McMurphy

bk wrote: »

Thanks for confirming, I thought that.

So it seems that the ESB/Vodafone JV will cover 500,000 homes in non UPC urban and semi-urban areas.

Then there is this plan for the government to subsidise the rollout of fibre to the remaining 500,000 homes using the ESB network of poles and I would assume using ESB networks staff.

However reading the announcements, the government plan doesn't seem to be FTTH. Certainly 500 million wouldn't be enough for FTTH. While light on details, instead it seems to be a plan to get fibre to pretty much every village in Ireland, but then use copper, fibre or fixes wireless to get to the homes in this area.

So a lot of details to be revealed and studied yet and of course we actually need to see the money being spent. I wouldn't hold my breath, but it maybe good news.

There is a measure under the new EU rural development programme called rural broadband so maybe some of that funding is to be diverted into this plan

Strawberry HillBilly

What now for the wireless providers e.g. ripplecom, air wire etc

As companies who appear to have invested heavily in servicing rural Ireland while the major telcos left us without any broadband in some cases or the infamous 3 mobile broadband, could today's announcement mean the end of the road for these types of service providers ?

Is it possible for wireless providers to up speeds beyond the up 8Mbps which seems to be the standard download speed ?

Some_Person

Strawberry HillBilly wrote: »

Is it possible for wireless providers to up speeds beyond the up 8Mbps which seems to be the standard download speed ?

Carnsore Broadband and others already provide 15mbps wirelessly, higher speed equipment will be coming out within the next 2 years too which will help to deliver higher speeds.

ED E

The intelligent approach is a combo. Fibre to the cab/some premises and then fixed wireless to cover the outliers. If the FW providers could get 500Mb connections in small villages then they could easily provide 20Mb to those further out.

Nonoperational

Strawberry HillBilly wrote: »

What now for the wireless providers e.g. ripplecom, air wire etc

As companies who appear to have invested heavily in servicing rural Ireland while the major telcos left us without any broadband in some cases or the infamous 3 mobile broadband, could today's announcement mean the end of the road for these types of service providers ?

Is it possible for wireless providers to up speeds beyond the up 8Mbps which seems to be the standard download speed ?

There will never be high quality short lines to everyone. It's actually a decent opportunity for wireless ISPs to get reasonable access to fibre backhaul and offer a real decent service.

A lot of places are still going to be in no-mans land. If you are just outside a reasonably sized town you could have a max of 2-3Mbit ADSL even after all this investment from all sides. You don't seem isolated enough for special treatment, but are too far from the cabinet and exchange in the town.

fergus1001

Strawberry HillBilly wrote: »

Hopefully this will happen, especially as the village I live in has been listed

where is this list ?

7upfree

Lads, not wanting to burst the bubble. One word - election.

fergus1001

7upfree wrote: »

Lads, not wanting to burst the bubble. One word - election.

yep have my hopes up for this I hope im proven wrong and faith in politics is restored

maby i should run for the dail and redden their ears about broadband untill it is done

sick of empty promises from one government after another

norrie rugger

Would it not be like totally awesome if they allowed people to add themselves.

A group of say 30 houses, too far away from central area may be willing to share the costs of putting the line in (just like with current utilities)

MajesticDonkey

norrie rugger wrote: »

Would it not be like totally awesome if they allowed people to add themselves.

A group of say 30 houses, too far away from central area may be willing to share the costs of putting the line in (just like with current utilities)

Yes, this would be a nice idea. I wonder do any national ISPs listen to these types of requests?

garroff

What if digging and duct laying could be done by volunteers or number of houses got digging duct laying done by contractor. Would ISP be interested in installing required cabling?

versager

An article which might give some idea about the planned time frame of ESB - Vodafone cooperation broadband rollout:

www*limerickleader*ie/news/business/business-news/high-speed-broadband-for-16-west-limerick-villages-1-6038745

Use dots instead of stars.

OneEightSeven

versager wrote: »

An article which might give some idea about the planned time frame of ESB - Vodafone cooperation broadband rollout:

www*limerickleader*ie/news/business/business-news/high-speed-broadband-for-16-west-limerick-villages-1-6038745

Use dots instead of stars.

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/high-speed-broadband-for-16-west-limerick-villages-1-6038745

ED E

A new joint venture is being set up by the ESB and Vodafone to implement the project and ESB poles and pylons will be used to carry the high-speed e-fibre into 450,000 homes in areas where it is currently unavailable.

Journalist clearly has no idea what they're on about...

Also, this is from Pat Rabitte and is pre-election. Put no faith in it.

AlanS181824

In Germany and New Zealand, Sky provide TV through Vodafone and it's the same Sky we have here.

So I wonder would they ever provide TV using the ESB/Vodafone FTTH network once everything is up and running?

AlmightyCushion

AlanS181824 wrote: »

In Germany and New Zealand, Sky provide TV through Vodafone and it's the same Sky we have here.

So I wonder would they ever provide TV using the ESB/Vodafone FTTH network once everything is up and running?

Considering they provide broadband here using the Eircom network I don't see why not.

AlanS181824

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Considering they provide broadband here using the Eircom network I don't see why not.

I have a feeling that Sky might withdraw from the Irish broadband market altogether but you never know.

It's interesting to see because in both Germany and New Zealand (not sure if it's available elsewhere) but Vodafone offer TV with Sky and then they offer their own Vodafone TV which I'm guessing would be like eVision in that it's IPTV.

Grab All Association

AlanS181824 wrote: »

I have a feeling that Sky might withdraw from the Irish broadband market altogether but you never know.

It's interesting to see because in both Germany and New Zealand (not sure if it's available elsewhere) but Vodafone offer TV with Sky and then they offer their own Vodafone TV which I'm guessing would be like eVision in that it's IPTV.

They won't. The whole reason Sky entered the broadband market in Ireland was to compete with UPC. Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Thurles, Clonmel and all other areas where UPC is available Sky were losing a lot of customers to UPC triple play package.

AlanS181824

Chris___ wrote: »

They won't. The whole reason Sky entered the broadband market in Ireland was to compete with UPC. Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Thurles, Clonmel and all other areas where UPC is available Sky were losing a lot of customers to UPC triple play package.

In what way could Sky's "up to" 24Mb ever compete with UPC's 200Mb?

ED E

AlanS181824 wrote: »

In what way could Sky's "up to" 24Mb ever compete with UPC's 200Mb?

When they started lots of those areas were 25Mb and 30Mb MMDS systems.

Now though, they can still compete with a better TV service. Lots seem to prefer it. Their PVRs are way better than UPCs and miles ahead of eircoms. And their licencing deals give them a lot of good exclusive content.