Telecommunications services in the west, south-west and in Donegal will gain most from this week's allocation of £18.2 million (€23.1 million) in EU structural funds.
It will be matched by a £43.3 million investment from the seven successful recipients of the EU grant, and be used to roll out Global Crossing's high-speed telecommunications cable to two million people in 21 counties.
The funds are designed to ensure that the benefits of high-speed communications and the information age extend to all regions, and not just urban centres.
Telecom Eireann has received the highest allocation of £6.4 million for two separate projects. It will invest more than £14.3 million to provide optical fibre and broadband access nodes to 75 small urban centres between Sligo and Cork. Once deployed, high-speed telecommunications will be available to 70 per cent of residents in this region.
In addition, Telecom will lay optical fibre along 95 kilometres on the west coast of Donegal, and establish two Technology Information Communications centres to promote the use of the infrastructure on a cross-border basis.
Esat Telecom has received EU funding of £3 million to support its £7.3 million project to expand the broadband catchment area to local access networks. It has said it will lay optical fibre from Athlone to Claremorris, Ballina, Sligo and the intermediate towns.
Ocean, the joint venture between British Telecom and the ESB, has been allocated £4.8 million towards its £13.9 million optical fibre roll out in the west.
It has said this will provide independent cable access at 30 intermediate locations for other operators to utilise.
Schools and third-level institutions have also been catered for at a national level, with HEAnet - the higher education authority network - receiving £800,000 worth of funding for its £1.74 million investment plan.
The project will support HEAnet's commitment to delivering and supporting a national and international communications infrastructure for the academic and research community.
The new investment will introduce a series of national nodes for switching and routing communications traffic on the HEAnet network.
Cablelink, now owned by NTL Cabletel, will get £800,000 to cover nearly 50 per cent of its planned £1.7 million rollout of fibre in the Tallaght area. It has said it plans specifically to support small and medium-sized enterprises seeking high-speed Internet access and additional services within the region.
Kilkenny and Clonmel will see a £3.5 million investment from Suir Nore Relays. It will go towards the deployment of coaxial cable in the region, which is designed to support small office and home office working. Coaxial cabling is the main type of cabling used by the cable television industry, although it is also widely used for computer networks.
A similar investment is planned in Castlebar by Cable Management Ireland, which has plans to spend £1.35 million on a coaxial access network. It promises high-speed Internet access, up to 50 television channels, and the introduction of a local community channel.
