Siro doubles workforce to 120 as broadband demand soars

ESB-Vodafone joint venture Siro has doubled its workforce to 120 in the past 12 months.

The company, which is vying for the Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP), made the announcement at the opening of its new Dublin headquarters in Carrickmines.

It also noted that more than 40,000 premises in 17 regional towns now had access to its new fibre broadband product, making it the largest fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) supplier in the State.

The company is investing €450 million in a FTTB network, primarily aimed at 50 regional towns.

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The technology has no copper connections at any point to slow down the network and can deliver superfast download speeds of one gigabit per second, enough to broadcast high-definition TV.

“Broadband connectivity is of vital importance to the Irish economy in terms of job creation and enabling Irish companies to compete online,” Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor said at the official opening of its Carrickmines offices.

Transforming the broadband experience

She said she had seen the potential of the Gigabit society at the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen, which is powered by Siro.

"It is an exemplar project which is already sowing the seeds for a vibrant digital economy in west Cork and transforming the broadband experience in the town," she added.

Siro chief executive Sean Atkinson said the company's ambition was to become Ireland's new national telecoms infrastructure.

“I am excited by the calibre and enthusiasm of colleagues who have joined us to help build our unique 100 per cent optical fibre-to-the-building network – the only solution capable of future-proofing Ireland’s broadband needs now and for the decades ahead,” he said.

Retail partnerships

Apart from Vodafone, Siro has recently formed retail partnerships with BT, Carnsore Broadband, Digiweb and WestNet, with more expected to come on board in 2017.

Siro, Eir and Enet are in a competitive dialogue process with the Department of Communications regarding the NBP. At the same time, the companies are in an arms race to connect as many premises as possible ahead of the awarding of NBP contracts.

The Government's scheme aims to connect 927,000 homes and premises across rural Ireland to high-speed broadband by 2022.

Thousands of homes in remote areas cannot be connected to broadband networks without costly interventions, however.