Cllr Keith Martin of the Westport Multi Agency Task Force which was set up in the wake of job losses in Westport to lobby for infrastructure and jobs has warmly welcomed the roll out of fibre optic Broadband in Ballina, Castlebar and Westport.
"I warmly welcome Eircom's confirmation of the launch its high speed fibre broadband network in Ballina, Castlebar and Westport on May 20th.
Cllr Martin explains that "more than 15,500 homes and small businesses in the three areas will be connected to the new fibre broadband network, which will support high speed broadband of up to 70Mb per second."
Herb Hribar, CEO eircom Group, said "We are delighted that approximately 15,600 homes and small businesses in Ballina, Castlebar and Westport will be amongst the first nationally to enjoy high speed broadband when the fibre network goes live on May 20th. Over the past year eircom technical crews have installed 69 new cabinets and several miles of fibre cabling right across the three areas as part of our multi million euro investment in the towns."
The new fibre broadband network will mean a significant rise in available broadband speeds for premises within the fibre footprint and further increases in speed are planned.
"While broadband speeds at launch will reach up to 70Mb per second, we expect this to rise to 100 Mb per second within twelve months through further technical enhancement, transforming the broadband experience for homes and businesses in the Ballina, Castlebar and Westport areas", continued Hribar.
Cllr Martin says Eircom have confirmed to him that other Mayo towns including Ballinrobe and Claremorris have been included in subsequent phases of eircom's fibre rollout.
"This is great news for Mayo. It means our businesses can compete on a level playing field with those in the cities and the availability of fibre cable means we can attract new businesses to towns like Westport. I look forward of the continued roll out of such high speed broadband across the county" concluded the Labour councillor.
Herb Hribar, CEO eircom Group, said "We are delighted that approximately 15,600 homes and small businesses in Ballina, Castlebar and Westport will be amongst the first nationally to enjoy high speed broadband when the fibre network goes live on May 20th. Over the past year eircom technical crews have installed 69 new cabinets and several miles of fibre cabling right across the three areas as part of our multi million euro investment in the towns."
The new fibre broadband network will mean a significant rise in available broadband speeds for premises within the fibre footprint and further increases in speed are planned.
"While broadband speeds at launch will reach up to 70Mb per second, we expect this to rise to 100 Mb per second within twelve months through further technical enhancement, transforming the broadband experience for homes and businesses in the Ballina, Castlebar and Westport areas", continued Hribar.
Cllr Martin says Eircom have confirmed to him that other Mayo towns including Ballinrobe and Claremorris have been included in subsequent phases of eircom's fibre rollout.
"This is great news for Mayo. It means our businesses can compete on a level playing field with those in the cities and the availability of fibre cable means we can attract new businesses to towns like Westport. I look forward of the continued roll out of such high speed broadband across the county" concluded the Labour councillor.