National Broadband Ireland : implementation and progress

ussjtrunks · 11-10-2021 11:00pm

So I’m down for 2025-2026 reading the last few page it seems it’ll either be way later than that or no fibre at all cos my house is rural.

our exchange hasn’t been updated in forever the fixed line connection via dsl is 1mb only.

I really think I will need to look at starlink now as both nova and imagine have gone very bad in the area lately :(

clohamon · 12-10-2021 10:43am

NBI's new promotional video includes a TD* and department official*. Hard to know if this is a good sign or not. Islands get a mention.

https://twitter.com/NatBroadbandIrl/status/1447845789284409347

*Both from Wicklow.

Fluppen · 12-10-2021 5:11pm

I'm lucky enough to be in an area that is being upgraded at the moment and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of how NBI handles a long lane (700ish metres). The company that were cutting the hedges on the road came down the lane and cut any trees or hedges that were under the old copper line on the full length of the lane but the guys working with the cable seem to have stopped about 300M in. They did that on Friday and there has been no sign of them since. Will they only finish once I actually place an order for broadband or will I not be able to order broadband till they finish?

heavydawson · 12-10-2021 5:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118010056#Comment_118010056

I wouldn't read anything into it. They seem to be stopping fibre in arbitrary locations around my house. There's a bunch of brand new poles with no fibre on them and 500 m down the road there's a 2km run of fibre on older poles. Not sure what the methodology is, but I'm sure they have their reasons....

The Cush · 12-10-2021 6:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118010056#Comment_118010056

Any other houses down that lane?

A spoll of cable is 500m so well with range of the DP.

Dceng2 · 12-10-2021 8:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118010056#Comment_118010056

I noticed that in our area as well, left about 300 - 400 metres between end of line and one final house. Anyway they came back yesterday and finished it off. That was about 1 1/2 weeks from the original stringing of fibre cable.

Muahahaha · 12-10-2021 9:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118010377#Comment_118010377

Any ideas what 500m of this cable would cost out of interest? While Ill benefit from the NBP I always thought the 3bn cost sounded crazy. I worked out it out before and iirc it comes to a cost of about 6,000 euro for every house that is connected. Would you think the cost is excessive?

Pique · 12-10-2021 9:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118011323#Comment_118011323

As it's a 25 year contract, that works out about 240 per house per year. If there was no NBI and someone offered me FTTH for 20 euro a month on top of an ISP package, I think I wouldn't be alone in paying it.

Muahahaha · 12-10-2021 11:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118011350#Comment_118011350

Whats the idea behind the 25 year contract- as in the cables will degrade and need to be replaced all over again at that point?

The Cush · 12-10-2021 11:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118011323#Comment_118011323

Only NBI/Dept of Communications and their suppliers will know the hardware costs.

Regarding the contract, the €3bn figure is now €2.6bn following the removal of the VAT element as this was always an inter-departmental transfer. The contract is €2.15bn over 25 years with a contingency fund of €480m. €1.8bn will be spent in the first 10 years, remainder over the next 15 years. The actual contract is 35 years, in the final 10 years NBI will continue running the business at no cost to the State beyond year 25.

Pique · 13-10-2021 12:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118011834#Comment_118011834

NBI to support the network (and get paid by ISPs and customers) for 25 years. At which point (I think) it reverts to state owned infrastructure.

Muahahaha · 13-10-2021 12:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118011987#Comment_118011987

Thanks. Would the fibre cable be expected to last 25 years or will it need to be replaced wholesale at some point. And would there be technological advances that eventually make it obsolete or are we near the top of the curve for fast broadband? Seems once everyone can stream a movie in 4k then there isnt really a need to go faster again but maybe there is.

Yellow_Fern · 13-10-2021 12:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118012007#Comment_118012007

There is nothing better than fibre (look at TOSLINK from 1983). There is demand for more than movies in 4k but it is very niche at the moment and a provider may not be interested in supplying it.

Muahahaha · 13-10-2021 12:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118012016#Comment_118012016

Do you mean people running high end gaming computers using a lot of bandwidth? How might future advances in virtual reality effect bandwidth. If virtual reality shops and shopping became mainstream could it put pressure on a fibre network or is there still loads of extra bandwidth to handle new tech like that

The Cush · 13-10-2021 12:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118011987#Comment_118011987

No, NBI are contracted to run the network for 35 years, after that NBI owns the network.

Tommy Lagahan · 13-10-2021 9:16am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118012038#Comment_118012038

Regarding VR - no more stress than Steam / Xbox Live / PSN downloads already cause. They are just games at the end of the day. If CoD MW was anything representative though we'll be looking at 200+GB games to be downloading in the future. Generally its a case of maxing out the connection to get it downloaded then very little bandwidth after that for online play.

Game streaming would be about the same bandwidth as netflix. I've no faith in that though - too much latency, even on fiber, for me to put up with.

heavydawson · 13-10-2021 9:33am

You'd wonder if the streaming services would start introducing a "lossless" quality option that matched an Ulta HD BluRay bitrate (92-144mbps). They could charge an extra few quid a month for that tier

heavydawson · 14-10-2021 12:02pm

Irish Examiner: National broadband plan: Rollout to miss target by 50,000 homes this year.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40720632.html

heavydawson · 14-10-2021 8:39pm

RTE news : Roll-out of broadband plan eight months behind schedule

http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2021/1014/1253782-rollout-of-broadband-plan-eight-months-behind-schedule/

heavydawson · 14-10-2021 8:42pm

https://www.northernsound.ie/amp/news/monaghan-sees-first-connection-points-under-national-broadband-plan-183186

naughto · 14-10-2021 9:31pm

Did any 1 get an email from NBI

NBI Values Your Opinion.

Hello naughto

As part of our continuous engagement with the public, we will be conducting focus groups in early November at a location near you. The focus group will be useful to understand your opinion on various NBI communications and the messaging we use. If chosen to take part in the focus group, you will be rewarded for your participation. Participation in the focus groups is voluntary and can be withdrawn at any time, for any reason, without consequence.

If you are interested in being part of a focus group in a town near you, you can choose to register your interest by providing some details on the link below. These details will be used only to contact you for the purpose of the focus group and will not be used for any other purpose. By submitting your details to the form below you agree to have your details shared with our research partner Core Research who will facilitate the focus group.

heavydawson · 14-10-2021 9:44pm

https://www.independent.ie/news/national-broadband-plan-is-eight-months-behind-schedule-td-naughten-tells-dail-40950067.html

Meanwhile, the Public Acc- ounts Committee today experienced interruptions due to poor broadband quality while speaking about connectivity.

Fergal Mulligan, National Broadband Plan Programme Manager at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, was speaking to TDs and senators via video link.

He experienced poor video quality and at times his contributions cut out as he

spoke.

“I’m not trying to be funny, but I’m not sure if your broadband connection is the strongest there,” Dún Laoghaire TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said.

Mr Mulligan later cut out completely.

Mark Griffin, secretary-general at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, said Mr Mulligan was in Wicklow and was a “man stuck in an amber area who badly needs a connection”.

Comical

joe123 · 15-10-2021 12:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118020969#Comment_118020969

Makes for grim reading. 8 months behind is cat.

There was a report in the Connaught telegraph too today/yesterday where it was called out 0 premises have been connected in Mayo and likely wont be until early 22 at this stage. Same for a lot of counties I'd suspect.

NBI really struggling it seems, and honestly I cant see how they are going to be able to "catch up" to their original 7 year timeline, never mind this 5 year one.

clohamon · 15-10-2021 12:36pm

The Public Accounts Committee link is here

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-tv/video-archive/committees/# (note date and topics below)

Date: 14th October

Topics: Minutes of the Meeting of 7 October 2021, Accounts and Statements, Correspondence, Draft work programme, Any other business

The meeting dips in and out of the NBP

Departments budget for 2022 is 70-94k premises ready-for-order.
ComReg's new Pole and Duct pricing decision due by the end of the year. (Currently €20/pole assuming two cables - so NBI pay €10/pole)
Payments to NBI so far 2020: €42.5M, 2021: €89.8M
Actual penalties for missed milestones to apply from Feb 1st 2022 says Fergal Mulligan - Program Director. He didn't say how much per day.
No contingency payments have been made to NBI so far.
Chairman Brian Stanley spends a bit of time rehearsing DPER correspondence of 2019.
General skepticism about whether NBI/DECC have fully explained the 6 months delay by reference to Kelly and KN Covid difficulties.

GreenJedi · 15-10-2021 3:53pm

to lose 6 months while still been able to work through the covid crisis was quite a feat, but to lose a further two months in the space of two weeks !!!

Strettie11 · 16-10-2021 11:46am

Pole was installed during the week

I have signed up for the 1PPH (1pigeon per hour) plan, messaging is slow😁

But they are upgrading next month to 2PPH

Final install is Monday fingers crossed

Hococop · 16-10-2021 12:58pm

Hopefully all goes well, still on pre order, think I'm at 170 days now

Keepitclean · 16-10-2021 4:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118028042#Comment_118028042

Digiweb confirmed Ballinasloe would go live November 1st so I should hear over the coming weeks on a date for an install. Hopefully this is true.

NBAiii · 16-10-2021 4:46pm

I am advised by NBI that, as of 7 October, over 264,000 premises across all counties have been surveyed with over 108,000 premises under construction in Counties Cork, Cavan, Galway, Limerick and Monaghan. Almost 17,000 premises have been passed and are available for connection in Counties Cork, Cavan, Galway, Limerick and Monaghan. In addition, over 10,000 premises are available for pre order which means that they will be connected in the coming months.

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2021-10-13/100/speech/333/

Less than 2500 premises passed in the near 30 days sine the previous update.

Messer1 · 17-10-2021 8:47am

Elaine Byrne in Business Post: We abandoned hope of connection, and signed up to satellite instead - Satellite broadband, from a growing number of providers, may be a quicker and better answer to rural Ireland’s offline woes than the National Broadband Plan.

Behind paywall: https://www.businesspost.ie/politics-extra/elaine-byrne-we-abandoned-hope-of-connection-and-signed-up-to-satellite-instead-c15581a2

National Broadband Ireland : implementation and progress

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