NATIONAL GRID operator Eirgrid will provide a high-speed broadband link between Britain and Ireland alongside the €600 million electricity connection that it is building between the two countries.
Eirgid confirmed yesterday that it has entered into a deal with British telecoms company Geo Networks, which will lay a 700 gigabit fibre-optic cable alongside the planned electricity connector running between Dublin and Wales.
The cable will give mobile operators and service providers access to high-speed broadband networks in Ireland and Britain.
Eirgrid has hired Swedish specialist ABB to design, build and lay the interconnector, which will supply enough energy to provide electricity to about 200,000 homes.
Chief executive Dermot Byrne said yesterday that Eirgrid had been working for several years on the plan to use the interconnector as a means of boosting broadband access in Ireland.
Under the deal’s terms, Eirgrid will licence capacity on the fibre optic cable to Geo, which will in turn make it available to service providers.
Mr Byrne said the fibre optic cable would increase the availability of broadband to Irish business and boost connectivity and competition.
Eirgrid operates the electricity grids in both the Republic and the North. These assets transmit power from generating plants to the distribution networks that deliver them to customers.
Geo is focused on designing and building fibre networks. Its customers include mobile operators, service providers, large banks and public bodies.
