Eir boss: 'We're the only party doing anything of any substance in rural Ireland'
The telco is opening a new innovation hub in Dingle and has plans for more.
TELECOMS FIRM EIR is backing an ‘innovation hub’ for Dingle as part of plans to roll out one gigabit broadband connectivity to 300,000 premises in Ireland.
The Dingle Hub is also supported by a number of other partners including Dingle Business Chamber, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Kerry County Council and Net Feasa.
It is hoped that the initiative will accommodate 100 full-time workers across three key areas of focus, including music and film-making, animation and the internet of things (IoT).
Desk space at the hub can be leased for a little as €20 a day, however, startups can also pay for dedicated desk, with a private office costing €300 a month.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Eir chief executive Richard Moat said the aim of opening the hub is to attract high-tech jobs down to the south-west of Ireland.
“It will be the first of a number of digital hubs that we’re going to support throughout the country,” he said.
“We’ll announce the next town as soon as we can. We’re talking with a number of communities, but I’m not sure exactly which one will be next.”
Despite investing more than €500 million to date in the provision of fibre broadband, Eir has been criticised by customers in the past for failing to deliver on its high-speed internet promises for rural and regional Ireland.
“I understand people’s frustration who have these very slow speeds, but we are building this 300,000-homes network,” Moat said.
“We’re the only party out there that’s doing anything of any substance in rural Ireland, and we’re doing it as rapidly as we can.”
Hot desks at The Dingle Hub
Eir’s backing for the tech hub in Dingle follows rival Siro – a joint venture between ESB and Vodafone – powering the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen.
Siro is also putting €40 million into a project to bring broadband connectivity in six regional centres up to par with that available in major international cities like Tokyo.
Overall, the group has planned to invest €450 million to build its fibre broadband network across Ireland. Both Siro and Eir, along with Enet, are also competing to win the tender to build the government-backed National Broadband Plan in rural areas.
Today Siro also announced plans to provide a Kerry-based business hub with one gigabit broadband connectivity. Some 18 businesses housed in HQTralee will receive two years of free broadband as part of the Gigabit Hub Initiative.
Previous research has shown that some rural and regional towns experience broadband speeds up to 36 times slower than those available in major urban centres.
Richard Moat
Results
The Dingle Hub announcement has also come as Eir revealed its financial results for the nine months up to 31 March 2017.
The company said earnings at the group have grown by 5% with more customers signing up for Eir’s broadband service.
Broadband customers at the firm grew by 36,000 in the nine months up to 31 March, which saw paid subscribers hit the 890,000 mark.
The results also showed that Eir Vision, the firm’s new television service, has 67,000 subscribers, while 212,000 people are now signed up for Eir Sport.
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