It’s been alleged that the new houses in Wexford town will not be able to avail of fibre optic broadband.
New residents at a multi-million housing scheme in Wexford town may be in for an unwelcome surprise when they receive their keys according to one “reliably informed” councillor. At the December meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), Councillor Jim Codd alleged that the new homes at The Paddocks in Coolcotts, which have a starting price of €395,000, do not have sufficient telecommunications infrastructure and will not be able to avail of National Broadband Ireland’s (NBI) fibre-optic once complete.
“That development has no telecommunications infrastructure, there’s new houses going for almost half a million and they won’t be able to access an Eir landline, the only option is to piggyback on the ESB,” he said. “Will we have to dig up the footpaths there in the future? I’m reliably informed there’s no ducting going into the houses.”
Noting that WCC was acquiring homes in the first phase of the development, Cllr Codd said that without any ducting the only way to install fibre optics was “through the sewage pipes”.
“NBI has a budget of €2.6bn and it has promised to bring fibre to each and every house, to the best of my knowledge there’s no way of bringing fibre optic into those houses,” he added. “If we’re taking these houses on we don’t want to be digging up the paths in a year’s time.”
It’s been alleged that the new houses in Wexford town will not be able to avail of fibre optic broadband.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Monday, December 15
Confirming that WCC would be taking on some of the houses in The Paddocks, director of housing Carolyne Godkin said that if the council opted to take over the entire estate at a later date “the appropriate reports” would be carried out.
“Are we happy to give planning without fibre optic ducting?” asked Cllr Codd. “This leads us into a very difficult place, the only option for residents will be SIRO (broadband), the other providers won’t have access.”
Given that Cllr Codd’s query related to planning rather than housing, director of planning Liz Hore offered further information.
“Normally ducting would be provided (by the developer)”, she said. “In relation to that specific estate I’ll need to look into it and come back to you.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.