Irish utility firm ESB has agreed a €450m (US$615m) joint venture with local mobile operator Vodafone to deploy a 100% fibre network across its electricity poles.
The 50/50 JV, which will wholesale services to other telcos, believes it can offer…
Irish utility firm ESB has agreed a €450m (US$615m) joint venture with local mobile operator Vodafone to deploy a 100% fibre network across its electricity poles.
The 50/50 JV, which will wholesale services to other telcos, believes it can offer speeds of up to 1000Mbps by delivering fibre straight into buildings and avoiding using copper for the ‘last mile’.
It plans to begin rolling out the network in the coming months to an initial 500,000 premises in 50 towns, once it gets the European Commission’s approval.
The group said its first customers will be able to access the services from the start of next year, while it expects to complete the first phase of the roll-out by the end 2018.
If approved, Ireland would become the first country in Europe to deploy fibre across its electricity infrastructure on a nationwide basis.
With 43% of fixed broadband customers in the country receiving speeds of less than 10Mbps, ESB CEO Pat O’Doherty said the use of ESB’s existing electricity infrastructure would “maximis[e] the use of state assets to the benefit of Irish society”.
He said: “Over the last ten years ESB has invested over €6bn in its electricity network infrastructure nationally, ensuring it is one of the most robust and modern electricity networks in the world thus enabling the delivery of this new fibre broadband network.”
As previously reported, Vodafone entered into exclusive talks about the venture with ESB earlier this year, after the utility firm launched a competitive tender process.
