A local TD has called for the Government to work with wireless broadband providers to reuse equipment that will be removed from homes as they are connected to the new fibre cable under the National Broadband Plan.
Denis Naughten TD said that as National Broadband Ireland delivers fibre broadband to rural homes, families will come off their existing wireless services.
He said that this now provides an opportunity to improve the quality of wireless broadband services to families who are further down the list of the deployment areas, by reusing this equipment.
“To allow this to happen Councils and State agencies need to provide sites to these wireless operators so that they can install transmitters to distribute the wireless broadband service,” said the Roscommon-Galway TD.
“Because these extensions to the wireless service will have a short lifespan, up until the end of 2027 when it is now likely that the National Broadband Plan will be completed, these sites should be provided rent-free by the Councils and State agencies.”
Naughten added that while disappointingly National Broadband Ireland is likely to see slippage with its final delivery date being pushed back to 2027, the positive aspect to the project is that close to one third of families who can connect to the network are doing so within the first six months of its availability.
“This rapid sign up for a fibre connection provides an opportunity for the reuse of existing wireless equipment and Government now needs to engage with wireless operators to make this happen.”
