Minister Pat Rabbitte has welcomed eircom’s significant investment to provide fibre broadband access to 1.2 million homes and businesses by June 2015. The investment will offer speeds of up to 70 mbps, which is expected to advance to speeds of up to 100mbps with technology advances within the next 2 years.

Commenting on the Government priority to deliver high speed broadband access he said: “The Government’s “National Broadband Plan” commits to making fast broadband available to all premises in the lifetime of this Government. Eircom plays a key role in the delivery of this infrastructure.”

On the importance of high speed broadband access he added: “High speed broadband will bring economic and social benefits across Ireland. The Government’s Plan lays the foundation for further momentum along our path to recovery. The resulting high speed broadband will be crucial for innovation, crucial for job creation and crucial for the continued attraction of inward investment to Ireland. The emphasis on universal access will ensure balanced benefits, delivering the connected society, at higher speeds, to all.”

Commenting on the benefits of the eircom investment he said: “The investment by eircom at this time is a significant demonstration of confidence by commercial investors in our path to sustainable economic recovery.”

He added: “The plan to pass 1.2 million premises is itself significant. The network is also accessible to eircom’s competitors as a wholesale product. The introduction of competition from the outset is itself evidence of eircom’s confidence in its retail products and should maximise innovation and competitive retail pricing to the benefit of customers.”