Pure Telecom enters home broadband market

Pure Telecom

is launching a new broadband service aimed at those who don’t have or want a landline at home.

The service, Purely Broadband, will use infrastructure already put in place by companies such as Eircom, BT and Magnet, primarily using fibre.

A nationwide trial of the service saw 400 customers sign up in two months; Pure Telecom aims to sign up 10,000 customers throughout the country in the first 12 months.

That would yield €4.3 million in revenue for the firm, with €173,000 from the initial 400 customers.

"It was a very realistic sample of what the 10,000 new customers we're hoping to sign up will be," said Jonathan Long, the company's head of operations.

The service aimed at residential customers who may never have had a landline in their home.

“Essentially what we’re doing is using similar technology but turning off the phone,” explained Mr Long.

Because it is using services from a range of suppliers, it can cover more of the country than a single provider.

“It’s designed to provide something we feel is required out there in the market,” he said. “It’s nothing new – broadband has been out there a long time. This is packaged differently.

Where fibre is not available, alternative services such as DSL will be used, although the speeds offered to customers will be lower.

“Each customer and phone line is unique in terms of distance from the cabinet and exchange as well as the potential quality of the line to the home, and it is these distinguishing features which dictate the speed available for delivery to a customer’s home or premises,” Pure Telecom said.

The company said the majority of its customers would be able to avail of higher speeds near 100Mb/s. About 1.1 million homes and businesses can access fibre services throughout the State.

Pure Telecom director Paul Connell said he expected the service would disrupt the market.

“Broadband has come a very long way in the last few years. We believe this is one of the best customer-driven innovations yet and we expect it will significantly disrupt the market,” he said.

Irish-owned Pure Telecom signed a €20 million deal with Eircom Wholesale in June to deliver high-speed broadband and telephone services to Pure Telecom's residential and business customers. The company has been in operation since 2002, delivering cloud, telecoms and broadband services to the business market. In 2007 it entered the residential market. It currently employs more than 100 people in Ireland.