SIRO is a joint venture between Vodafone and the ESB. The aim of the project is to roll out an extensive, high-speed, fibre-to-the-home broadband network around Ireland. Fibre-to-the-home is often called pure fibre broadband as it doesn't rely on old telephone copper wires for any of the network.
How fast is SIRO?
For many households, particularly those in more rural areas, the fastest speed available is 100Mbps at most with a part-fibre connection. However SIRO is able to provide pure fibre broadband with speeds of up to 2,000Mbps or 2Gbps, which is significantly faster.
And it has plans to upgrade its network to offer speeds of up to 10Gbps over the coming years!
How can SIRO deliver such fast speeds?
Well the way your broadband probably works now is that there's a high-speed fibre optic cable going to a telephone exchange cabinet near your home.
From there the internet has to travel through (often old) telephone copper wires for the last few hundred metres or kilometres to your home. As the signal travels along the copper wire it degrades, and the further you are from your local cabinet, the weaker the signal. This is why most broadband providers offer speeds ‘up to (x amount)’ rather than a definite speed.
However SIRO will run a fibre optic cable along the network of ESB poles nationwide and then directly into homes and businesses around the country, making copper cabling redundant and retaining the strong signal. In other words you'll get 100% pure fibre broadband straight into your home. This is what allows the network to provide such lightning-fast speeds, with no real limit on the number of devices that can connect to the network at any one time.
How could SIRO benefit me?
With whippet-quick internet speeds, SIRO opens up a world of possibilities both at home and at work.
At home:
A superfast and reliable connection means that working and studying from home is now easier than ever. The stability that a pure fibre connection offers means that you and your household can use many devices without the loss of much speed making it possible for everyone to benefit at the same time.
This is great news for households where families are often put head-to-head fighting over the bandwidth – now you can stream a movie in HD in one room, play X-box in another and download large files all at the same time.
At work:
If there’s one place where a fast and reliable broadband service is essential it’s the workplace. In a nutshell, a 2Gbps connection, in addition to the benefits mentioned above, offers businesses a more seamless collaborative experience and SIRO is aiming to transform regional Ireland by creating attractive locations for business investment.
As SIRO itself puts it: "All over Ireland, sole traders, SMEs, start-ups and regional businesses can now collaborate, expand and grow without facing technological barriers."
To put these speeds into context; a 2Gbps connection means a super fast and reliable cloud service, crystal clear video conferencing and Zoom calls, a consistent service for payment card terminals, and lightning-quick file sharing capabilities among other things.
Where is SIRO available?
SIRO-powered broadband is currently available to over 500,000 homes and businesses in Ireland, in regions such as Cavan, Dundalk, Westport, Castlebar, Sligo, Carrigaline, Tralee, Navan, Letterkenny, Wexford and parts of Dublin.
However it has plans to further expand its network to reach over 770,000 premises over the coming years.
SIRO is a wholesale broadband provider which is sold to households by retailers such as Vodafone, Sky, Virgin Media and Digiweb, as well as regional providers such as Westnet, Carnsore, Rocket Broadband, Airwave and Kerry Broadband.
Before you sign up with SIRO you'll need to make sure it's available in your area. To check, all you need to do is visit our broadband comparison page and enter your address or eircode. If a SIRO powered broadband package is available in your location, it will appear in your results. Choose the plan you best like the look of and switch - we’ll take care of the rest. It’s as easy as that!
If SIRO isn’t available in your area yet, you can sign up here and as soon as your building is connectable you will be informed by SIRO.
What kinds of prices am I looking at?
Each provider's prices vary. Generally the entry-level price for SIRO with a top speed of 150Mbps starts out at around €20 to €25 per month. However, if you want to benefit from a full 2Gbps connection, you are generally looking at around €50-€80 per month.
Learn more
If you’d like to find out more about the specifics of SIRO’s service, check out their website here.
We have a range of other helpful guides that will be of benefit to you if you’re looking for more information before switching:
- Check out our guide on fibre broadband here and learn more about high-speed broadband here.
- You can learn about the different types of broadband connections in this guide.
- Have a look at some of the most common questions we get asked about the switching process.
- There are a few things to keep in mind when comparing the best broadband deals on the market. Here’s a list of 7 factors to consider when assessing your options.
- If you want to know how exactly to switch broadband providers, just follow these few simple steps.
You can stay up to date with all the latest broadband news and top tips with our blogs and guides.
Compare broadband deals on bonkers.ie
Comparing broadband, phone and TV deals has never been easier with bonkers.ie. Our comprehensive broadband comparison tool lets you compare the best deals in your area from Ireland’s top broadband providers.
We also have a broadband speed test that can test the speed of your current connection and help you decide whether it’s time to upgrade to a faster package.
Need some help?
It can be difficult to wrap your head around the various broadband deals on offer. If you’re thinking about switching and have any questions, feel free to get in touch with us.
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