Mayo didn’t get to take Sam home this year, but they might be cheered up a bit by Enda Kenny’s announcement that Castlebar is one of the first ten towns in Ireland to get SIRO. Roads and paths are being dug up in towns across Ireland to install the latest, super-speed broadband. SIRO’s claim that this compares to rural electrification in the 1940s might send your eyeballs rolling back far enough to see your brain, but it is big news for both SMEs and consumers.
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SIRO is a breakthrough in how broadband is delivered. The difference between SIRO and other networks is that SIRO uses 100% fibre optic cables instead of copper. The company claims it will be ten times faster than current internet speeds in rural towns and three times faster than in cities. The new technology can deliver one Gigabit per second, which means you won’t have time to go make a cup of tea while waiting for a site to load. SIRO’s website mentions that the Gigabit speed will not be the sole option. It’s the top end of their range. The low end is 200 Megabit per second.
SIRO’s claim that it will allow people “young and old to live life to the full” might leave anyone old enough to have had a fulfilling life in the dark ages before the Internet shaking their heads in despair for the youth of today. But despite the hyperbole, it is good news. It will change the way people in rural Ireland use the internet. That has solid benefits for SMEs looking to expand their reach beyond the cities.
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Video is becoming more the norm online for news, blogs, retail sites and other sites. Slow speeds discourage visitors from watching videos on a site. People don’t really want to go make a cuppa while waiting. People don’t like waiting, full stop. Faster connections and greater capacity mean that people can enjoy all the bells and whistles on websites they visit. It means shopping online is easier. So really, if you are marketing online, it means more engagement and less frustration for your audience.
Castlebar isn’t the only town on the list, of course. SIRO expects to have connections to 50,000 premises in 50 towns across Ireland completed by the end of 2018. Carlow, Carrigaline, Cavan, Drogheda, Dundalk, Ennis, Letterkenny, Mullingar, Newbridge, Portlaoise, Ratheniska, Skibbereen, Sligo, Westport, Wexford and Tralee should see works starting this year as well.
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