There are 34,665 farms in the country out of a total of 65,247 awaiting to be passed for fibre cabling to ensure high-speed broadband connections, according to National Broadband Ireland (NBI).
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) to date has identified premises (collectively known as the intervention area) across Ireland that requires access to high-speed broadband.
There are now 283,638 homes, farms and businesses out of the 564,000 included in the intervention area that have been passed with fibre cabling.
When a premises is passed, this means that an order can be placed to connect it to high-speed fibre broadband on the NBI network.
A total of 30,582 farms have been passed so far, with the rollout of high-speed fibre broadband expected to be complete by the end of 2026.
In its recent quarterly results, NBI stated that it is on track to continue passing 10,000 premises each month and reach the end target set by government.
Fibre cabling
Construction has been complete or is currently underway for 466,725 premises, with over 42,000km of fibre laid since the commencement of construction work.
NBI has almost completed the early phases of its rollout in all parts of the intervention area.
This work in the early stages includes the physical surveying of existing pole and duct network across the country, which is then followed by a detailed design process where the route for fibre is determined.
Over 93% of premises included in the rollout have been surveyed while 91% of design work has been completed.
Minister of State with responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth said that high-speed fibre broadband is “life-changing” for rural communities.
“The progress to date reaffirms the government’s commitment to extending fibre broadband access to everyone living and working in Ireland,” Minister Smyth said.
The NBI also confirmed that infrastructure is already live on 10 of the 27 islands included in the rollout. The remaining 17 islands are in various stages of survey and design works.