Irish utility firm ESB has entered exclusive talks with local mobile operator Vodafone over deploying a fibre network across its electricity poles.
The group has been hunting for a partner for the reported €400m project since last year.
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Irish utility firm ESB has entered exclusive talks with local mobile operator Vodafone over deploying a fibre network across its electricity poles.
The group has been hunting for a partner for the reported €400m project since last year.
A spokesperson for Vodafone Ireland said: “ESB has entered into exclusive negotiations with Vodafone Ireland as the preferred bidder to form a joint venture company which will roll out fibre to homes and businesses across Ireland.”
Further details were not disclosed, but reports have speculated that the JV could become Ireland’s most powerful broadband network because its fibre would reach directly into buildings, rather than to roadside cabinets with copper being used for the ‘last mile’.
Previous reports claimed the JV would pay ESB to rent its infrastructure, and act as a wholesaler for others to compete with fibre services from incumbent telco Eircom and Liberty Global-owned UPC.
The project had reportedly also attracted the interest of fixed-line player BT Ireland, and parts of the network could be up and running in around 12 months.
Elsewhere in Ireland, speculation that Eircom could be seeking a sale or a listing has been growing recently as it looks to extend the maturity of around €2bn in loans.
The debt extension could make the asset more attractive to buyers, a prospect that has been doing the rounds since a restructuring in 2012 left the group in the hands of its senior lenders.
Speaking at the TelecomFinance annual conference last month, Marisa Drew, co-head of EMEA Investment Banking at Credit Suisse, said investors were lining up in anticipation of an IPO boom this year.
“My IPO pipeline is about 10 times what it was a year ago,” she noted.
