Minister For Culture Heritage And The Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys Unveils Cavan Centre As Vodafone & Siro’s Fifth National Gigabit Hub 

·       10 Businesses located at the Cavan Innovation & Technology Centre to receive 1 Gigabit broadband connectivity for two years free of charge

25^th November, 2017: Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and Fine Gael TD for Cavan and Monaghan, Heather Humphreys, today unveiled the Cavan Innovation & Technology Centre (CITC), which encompasses Cavan Enterprise Centre, as the next location to be part of Vodafone and SIRO’s national Gigabit Hub Initiative, which offers a 1 Gigabit broadband connection to qualifying business hubs free of charge for two years.

As the fifth Hub to receive the award, CITC joins the Ludgate Hub (Skibbereen), Tralee HQ (Tralee), Dundalk RDC (Dundalk IT) and The Mill (Drogheda) which have all been connected to the SIRO 100% fibre-optic network. Launched earlier this year, the Vodafone / SIRO Gigabit Hub Initiative was designed to spark a digital transformation in 15 towns across Ireland and encourage job and economic growth in regional towns.

The Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen, which was the first hub connected by SIRO in July 2016, is an ‘exemplar project’ that was shortlisted for the European Commission Broadband Awards in 2016 and is on course to create 500 jobs over the next five years in West Cork.

SIRO’s Gigabit connectivity, which is three times as powerful as the best service in Dublin and 10 times more powerful than the fastest average internet speed in Ireland, gives businesses in the CTIC world-class broadband connectivity allowing them to compete and grow.

CITC was established to promote innovation and technology support in the Cavan and border region by providing local businesses with education, training, technology and facilities needed to support enterprise development and create economic growth, as well as providing a one stop shop for entrepreneurs.  State agencies such as the Local Enterprise Office and IDA Ireland are co-located at CITC, with all support and training carried out by the Local Enterprise Office delivered at the centre. The Hub, incorporating Cavan Enterprise Centre, currently accommodates 10 companies which employ over 310 people.  

One such company benefiting from the SIRO 1 GB connection is Apridata, which was established in 2014 as a business intelligence and data analytics consultancy. With customers and prospects in locations all over the world, Apridata chose Cavan because of its amenities, quality of life and sense of community. Critical, however, was gaining access to high-speed broadband which is fundamental for the company’s success and allows it to do business and connect with customers across the world. 

In 2015, SIRO selected Cavan as the first town to trial the new technology which saw 300 homes in the Aughnaskerry and Rocklands estates equipped with a 100% fibre-to-the-building connection. The Cavan network now extends to over 4,000 homes and businesses who enjoy the same level of connectivity as leading international hubs like Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Speaking at the launch of the Gigabit Hub in Cavan, Minister for Culture and TD for Cavan- Monaghan Heather Humphreys said: “I am delighted to unveil Cavan Innovation & Technology Centre as the latest Gigabit Hub by Siro and Vodafone. Access to high speed broadband in today’s economy is as vital to infrastructure as canals and roadways were to businesses in the last century, and this project perfectly complements Government policy of encouraging commercial investment in broadband. The initiative also illustrates how local people and business interests can work together to generate economic activity, and I would like to commend everyone involved for their hard work and commitment.”

Vincent Reynolds, CEO, Cavan Innovation & Technology Centre said: “The unique natural surroundings of County Cavan underpin the success of its living and working communities. Inspiration breeds innovation, which, in the right environment, breeds success and this was the motivating factor behind the establishment of CITC. As a recipient of Vodafone and SIRO’s 1 Gigabit broadband connection, we will be able to further drive innovation and help companies at the centre reach greater heights.”  

Liam O’Brien, Director of Strategy & External Affairs of Vodafone Ireland, added: “The Gigabit Hub Initiative was created in order to empower local businesses and communities through connected technologies.  As the fifth hub, I’m delighted that businesses in the Cavan Innovation & Technology Centre will have access to SIRO’s 100% fibre-optic network. Gigabit connectivity is the starting point in the creation of a Gigabit Society across Ireland which will offer employees a better work/life balance and allow them to pursue their careers in towns across Ireland without sacrificing their quality of life, rather than being forced to move to cities or abroad.”

Stephen O’Connor, Corporate Affairs Director of SIRO, also said: “We are delighted that CITC has become our latest Gigabit Hub, given Cavan’s key role in SIRO’s history. Cavan was our original trial town, when we connected the Aughnaskerry and Rocklands estates back in 2015 and we got a great reception in the town. The SIRO network now extends to over 4,000 homes and businesses in Cavan town which all have access to the best connectivity in Ireland, rivalling international hubs like Hong Kong and Tokyo. Good connectivity is vital for regional towns competing for investment and jobs and having a 1 GB network in the town and a strategic centre like the CITC makes Cavan attractive for entrepreneurs to establish their business or for companies looking to invest”

Richard Stafford, Founder and CEO of Apridata, said: “CITC’s Gigabit connectivity is a game-changer for Apridata. With customers and prospects in locations as diverse as the Caribbean and Sweden, broadband is critical for our company. For our services, geographic location is not a limiting factor; we can market, sell and deliver digitally with video conferencing playing a vital role in our sales process. To succeed we need the bandwidth in place to ensure we deliver a professional experience - you lose credibility if there’s any lag or if your call unexpectedly drops due to poor broadband. We manage and process large volumes of data and the 1 Gigabit connection provided to us by Vodafone and SIRO enables us to do this productively. As a result, we can deliver services that empower our clients to make better business decisions faster.”

A video of Richard Stafford, Founder and CEO of Apridata, located at CITC, the fifth hub to receive two years of free gigabit fibre broadband from SIRO and Vodafone as part of the companies’ national Gigabit Hub Initiative can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/8Zs00T7mbyY

ENDS

For further information, contact:

SIRO                                                                                Vodafone

Piaras Kelly                                                                 Paul Griffin

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About Vodafone Ireland:

Vodafone is Ireland's leading total communications provider with 2.3 million customers and employs over 2,000 people directly and indirectly in Ireland.

Vodafone provides a total range of communications solutions including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications to consumers and to small, medium and large businesses. Since 2011, Vodafone has expanded its enterprise division, offering integrated next-generation fixed and mobile solutions in addition to cloud-based platforms, machine to machine services and professional ICT support.

Vodafone Group is one of the world's leading international mobile communications groups with mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 49 more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.ie

About SIRO:

SIRO is a joint venture of ESB and Vodafone which is investing €450 million in building Ireland’s first 100% Fibre-to-the-Building broadband network, offering a 1 GB (1,000 Mb) internet connection to 500,000 premises in fifty regional towns using the existing ESB infrastructure.

Launched 2 years ago the SIRO network has reached 120,000 homes and businesses across 25 regional towns and is available to consumers via 7 retail partners. SIRO is revolutionising the broadband market with technology which is the first of its kind in Ireland and is addressing the digital divide between towns and cities.NEWS TEXT