Laois take-up of €3 billion national broadband rising slowly

The number of Laois people availing of broadband through the €3 billion State-funded fibre rollout has risen but thousands in Laois have yet to buy in even though the service is live on their doorsteps.

National Broadband Ireland (NBI) is the company contracted to deliver the €5.5 billion National Broadband Plan for the Government. About €50 million of the public's money is being invested in Laois which already has a high broadband connection. 

NBI provided the latest Laois connectivity update to the Leinster Express / Laois Live. As of March 2025, it said that 11,536 Laois homes, businesses and farms can connect with 4,343 premises already connected to NBI’s network.

These latest figures mean that about a third of 13,000 properties that could connect to new broadband have opted in. While close to 40% of the 11,500 or so premises have availed of the service, a not insignificant 7,193 homes or other premises have yet to do so.

Nevertheless, the connection rate is creeping up. At the start of 2024, just about a quarter of households or businesses had signed on with a private retail service provider which sells services on the National Broadband Ireland network. People cannot buy their internet connection directly from NBI.

New figures pose a challenge to NBI in getting more Laois people buy into its fibre as it appears the vast majority already have some service. The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) quarterly Key Data Report on the Electronic Communications market for the last four months of 2024 showed that the county with the highest level of fibre-to-the-premises coverage is Laois at 92%.

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Peter Hendrick is the Chief Executive Officer, NBI was pleased with the progress in Laois but he encouraged more people to sign up. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

NBI team installing fibre.

“We are delighted to announce that over 4,000 Laois premises have already connected to NBI’s network. Overall, over 11,500 homes, businesses and farms in Co Laois can now order a high-speed fibre connection to the NBI™ network. This includes almost 1,800 premises near Ballylinan, almost 2,600 near Mountrath and almost 3,700 near Portlaoise. This will enable those who connect to experience the life-changing benefits of high-speed broadband with minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second.

“We are working hard on the ground to progress other areas of the county through engineering survey, design and construction phases. We are encouraging Laois residents to visit the NBI website to check their Eircode and sign up for updates,” he said.

As a wholesale network operator, NBI does not sell fibre broadband directly to end users, rather it enables services from a range of broadband providers or Retail Service Providers (RSPs). As a wholesale provider, NBI will make the new Fibre-to-the-Home network available to all RSPs operating in the Intervention Area.   

Some 72 retail providers have already signed up to sell services on the NBI network and 68 are certified as ready to start providing connections. 

National Broadband Ireland is calling on people to visit www.nbi.ie/map/and enter their Eircode to see if they are ready to connect. To see the retail broadband providers that are currently licensed to sell on the National Broadband Ireland network, visit www.NBI.ie/buy

The maximum State cost for the National Broadband Plan is €2.7 billion over 25 years, including €480 million for contingency costs.