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Wicklow councillor calls for change as rural areas are excluded from broadband rollout

Stock image.

Cathaoirleach of the Baltinglass Municipal District, Councillor Edward Timmins.

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thumbnail: Cathaoirleach of the Baltinglass Municipal District, Councillor Edward Timmins.
Eoin Mac Raghnaill
© Wicklow People

Cathaoirleach of the Baltinglass Municipal District, Councillor Edward Timmins, has called for change after learning that high-speed broadband will not be coming to rural areas of west Wicklow.

Having been inundated with calls from residents in Kiltegan, Donard and Dunlavin experiencing broadband speeds as low as 15Mbps, Cllr Timmins recently contacted Minister of State with special responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth to express their displeasure.

Raising issues around National Broadband Ireland's (NBI) national high-speed broadband and blackspots dotted across west Wicklow, Cllr Timmins asked for a detailed overview of the current broadband roadmap in those areas.

In a response issued by Minister Smyth, he noted that some rural areas in west Wicklow are being excluded from the NBI high-speed rollout because, following a mapping consultation in 2019, Department officials were provided with 30Mbps+ coverage maps from a private operator and these maps dictated the decision to determine the intervention area (IA) and exclusion areas (EA).

With regards to Kiltegan, in particular, the Minister stated that there is a small number of areas that receive speeds of less than 30Mbps, which Cllr Timmins said is contrary to the reality on the ground.

“According to the Minister, a further analysis shows that there are 120 premises in the Kiltegan Exclusion Area EA/blue area, and out of those premises, it appears that approx. 15 of these get less than 30Mbps but greater than 15Mbps,” Cllr Timmins said.

“I believe this figure is actually higher based on the feedback received to the speed check.

“The above speeds are in comparison to other areas in Wicklow, with download speeds of 204.6Mbps and upload speeds of 42.2Mbps!

“Whether it’s a small number of areas affected here in west Wicklow or not, I believe there should be a change in rules to allow rural villages to be added to the Broadband Intervention Area,” he added.

“I will be continuing to lobby on this issue for those impacted in parts of Dunlavin, Donard and Kiltegan and other areas. I am encouraging people in locations with low speeds to continue to update me.”