11,000 local premises have no broadband

At a time when much of life, work and business has moved online, it has emerged more than 11,000 premises in Westmeath still have no access to high-speed broadband.

The startling figures emerged in a recent letter to Westmeath County Council from National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company charged with the roll-out of the controversial National Broadband Scheme, which was mentioned at the May meeting of the local authority on Monday 25th, the first held since February due to Covid-19.

Normally, county council meetings take place in Mullingar, but on this occasion, it was held in the larger Athlone Civic Centre council chambers to facilitate social distancing among the 20 members and staff.

“As you may be aware, over one-quarter of all premises in Westmeath have no access to high-speed broadband. This translates to over 11,600 premises across the county,” the letter sent by NBI to Westmeath County Council on May 19 stated.

“Under the National Broadband Plan (NBP), the county will see an investment of €46m in the new high-speed fibre-to-the-home network,” it added.

The letter also stated that the firm had hoped to give an update of phase one works in parts of Westmeath to members at a local authority meeting, however, due to Covid-19 this was not possible.

Instead, the company offered to present an update at the earliest available opportunity or remotely, something Cllr Denis Leonard said should happen.

Referring to 11,600 people with no access to high quality broadband in the county, Cllr Leonard said he would like to find out how this rates in comparison to other counties.

The last two months have shown how important quality broadband is, and it’s vital that Westmeath does not fall behind, he stressed before CEO, Pat Gallagher, agreed that a meeting could be facilitated.

The first phase of the NBP involves ground surveying to assess current infrastructure – such as poles and ducts – which may be used in the construction of the high-speed broadband roll-out.

Some of that work already started last week around Mullingar in the areas like Clongawny, Greatdown, Ballagh, Mountrobert, Sheefin, Crookedwood, Balreagh, Foxburrough, Battstown and in the town itself, the company outlined in the letter to the local authority.

It said that several weeks will be spent surveying so that network designs can be completed for those areas for the build phase.

NBI plans to be building in 11 of 227 separate deployment areas by the end of this year and in every county nationwide next year.

“Some premises in Westmeath can expect to be able to connect to the network next year.

“Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are an important element of early delivery of access to high-speed internet set out in the National Broadband Plan.

“These will enable free connectivity in various locations across the county and country,” the company continued in the update, saying that these facilities will be available to the public in the next 12 months.