A great day for Kerry as it sees the introduction of lightning-quick 1Gb broadband and the launch of not one, but two digital innovation hubs in Dingle and Tralee.
Great broadband news for businesses in The Kingdom.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD had a busy day today unveiling both HQTralee; a business and innovation hub housing 18 local businesses, as well as The Dingle Hub; a new facility that provides state-of-the-art services for start-up companies which aims to support and create over 100 full time jobs in 5 years.
HQTralee:
HQTralee currently supports 50 jobs and will see this number double to 100 by July. It is the first business hub to receive two years of free gigabit fibre broadband from Vodafone and Siro as part of the companies’ national Gigabit Hub Initiative. The initiative was created by Vodafone and SIRO in order to empower local businesses and communities through connected technologies.
The Dingle Hub:
The Dingle Hub is a community enterprise initiative supported by a range of significant partners including eir, Dingle Business Chamber, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Kerry County Council and Net Feasa. Focusing on three key areas - Music/Film-making, Animation and Internet of Things (IoT), the Hub will place a significant emphasis on creativity and the role it can play in supporting and developing businesses.
Similar to the Vodafone and Siro’s initiative, eir is providing The Dingle Hub with an extensive and scalable communications infrastructure which includes a 1 Gigabit dedicated fibre connection, hosted voice services and Wi-Fi.
What will this mean for rural communities?
By providing 1Gb fibre broadband connectivity into enterprise and community centres, both schemes aim to enable towns across the country to strengthen and grow their rural communities by supporting regional job creation and positively impact local economies. Communities will be able to retain local skills, knowledge and talent, compete on a level playing field with national and international organisations and attract new enterprises providing job creation and stimulus to the local economy.
Mary Mitchell O’Connor was highly positive at both launches that the introduction of super-fast broadband would have an invaluable impact on business in rural communities and commended the input of all companies and partners involved.
Great for Kerry, but when will 1Gb speeds come to my rural community?
Want to learn more about The National Broadband Plan? Read more about the plan in our blog post here. Want to know more about Siro? Click here.
