E-NET, THE company that manages the Government's metropolitan area networks (MANs) in 27 towns around the State, has signed a €3 million deal with BT Ireland for the supply of backhaul connectivity.

While MANs provide high-speed fibre-optic rings around towns, they do not have links to other telecommunication networks, known as backhaul.

Until now, the MANs have relied primarily on ESB Telecom for connectivity back to Dublin, but E-net chief executive Conal Henry said the addition of BT's services would give it additional flexibility with regard to the services it supplies to wholesale customers. A second provider would also ensure the MANs have a "security of supply", he said.

It is understood that BT's prices are up to one-third less than those charged by the telecoms wing of the State energy company.

"This deal with BT is great news for people and businesses in MAN-enabled towns," said Mr Henry.

"It helps E-net to continue to reduce any 'digital divide', so that services and costs in MAN-enabled towns get ever closer to the best that are available in Dublin and major cities around the world."

Mr Henry said the relative cost of backhaul in Ireland, an essential part of broadband infrastructure to get companies to locate outside Dublin, is good compared to the rest of Europe. He said projects such as Cisco establishing a research centre in Galway and Amazon building a support centre in Cork would not happen without the availability of good-quality broadband at competitive prices.

The deal will support speeds of up to one gigabit per second.

The towns covered are: Athlone; Ballina; Carlow; Carrick-on-Shannon; Clonmel; Cork; Drogheda; Dundalk; Galway; Kilkenny; Limerick; Mullingar; Portlaoise; Roscommon; Sligo; Tullamore; Waterford; and Wexford.

Although the MANs, the first phase of which has been developed at a cost of €85 million, have been criticised for poor uptake, E-net estimates 600,000 users benefit from services provided by telecoms using them.

The deal marks a turnaround in relations between E-net and BT Ireland, according to Mr Henry. From a scenario where BT questioned the need for MANs, it is now one of E-net's top customers.