Siro, the open-access broadband provider, has announced that it will invest €40 million to expand its rollout to its next six locations in the Republic.

The company is planning to deliver a 100 per cent fibre-optic broadband network to 50 towns nationwide.

The six locations to benefit from the investment will be Mullingar, Newbridge, Ennis, Portlaoise, Drogheda and Carlow.

Services will be live or construction work will be under way in 17 towns across the State by the end of the year.

The towns are Dundalk, Cavan, Carrigaline, Sligo, Letterkenny, Tralee, Wexford, Drogheda, Westport, Castlebar, Mullingar, Newbridge, Ennis, Ratheniska, Carlow and Skibbereen.

In Skibbereen last month, the Ludgate Hub – powered by Siro one-gigabit connectivity – was launched. It aims to create 500 jobs in five years in the west Cork region and provide a multimillion-euro boost to the local economy.

‘Fantastic response’

Speaking at the National Ploughing Championships, Siro chief executive Seán Atkinson said the service would be important to those based in rural Ireland.

“Since we started construction in August last year, we have received a fantastic response in our rollout towns,” he said. “We are delighted to add six new fibrehoods to our network build. We are now passing 10,000 premises per month and working in 17 towns.

“Siro gives consumers and businesses in regional Ireland access to far better services than that available in Dublin and other cities, thus reversing the digital divide and allowing them to compete more effectively for investment and jobs.

"It is our ambition to become Ireland's new national telecomms infrastructure. We have plans for a second phase which covers over 300 smaller towns and we are shortlisted for the Government's National Broadband Plan, which aims to deliver high-speed access to all citizens by 2020.

“We believe that fibre-to-the-building is the only solution capable of future-proofing Ireland’s needs.”